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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


DANIEL   C.   COOPER. 


EARLY  DAYTON 


WITH    IMPORTANT    FACTS    AND    INCIDENTS    FROM    THE 

FOUNDING  OF  THE  CITY  OF  DAYTON,  OHIO 

TO  THE   HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 

1796-1896 


BY 

ROBERT   W.    STEELE 

AND 

MARY   DAVIES   STEELE 


ILLUSTRATED 


DAYTON,  OHIO 

U.  B.  publisl^tng  f^ouse 

W.  J.  Shuey,  Publisher 

1890 


Copyright,  1895 

By  Mary  Davtes  Steele 

All  rights  reserved 


F 


TO  MY  FRIENDS 

IHr.  anil  ^Irs.  Frank  Qlmtnirsr, 

DESIRING  TO  ASSOCIATE  THEIR  NAMES  WITH  MINE  IN 

MY  LITERARY  WORK,  WHICH  THEY  HAVE 

PROMOTED  IN  VARIOUS  WAYS, 

I  DEDICATE 

"EARLY  DAYTON." 

M.  D.  S. 


IC 


KjCj^^Cjti3 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 


The  illustrations  contained  in  this  volume  have  been  earefiilly 
selected,  and  include  a  number  which  have  never  before  been 
published.  Among  these  are  portraits  of  Benjamin  Van  Cleve, 
Colonel  George  Newcom  and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Jane  Wilson,  a 
view  of  Main  Street  in  1855  from  a  water-color  by  John  W.  Van 
Cleve,  and  a  copy  of  the  original  plan  of  the  city  as  found  in 
the  records  of  Hamilton  County.  For  these  portraits  and  the 
view  of  Main  Street  the  publisher  desires  to  acknowledge  his 
obligation  to  Mrs.  Thomas  Dover,  Mrs.  Josiah  Gebhart,  and  Miss 
Martha  Holt,  in  whose  possession  are  the  valuable  originals,  and 
by  whose  courtesy  they  are  here  reproduced.  Special  thanks 
are  due,  also,  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Patterson  for  the  portrait  of  his  grand- 
father. Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  and  to  Miss  S.  S.  Schenck, 
of  Washington,  D.  C,  for  that  of  her  father,  General  Robert 
C.  Schenck. 

The  pictures  of  the  landing  of  the  first  settlers,  of  Neweom's 
first  cabin  in  1796,  and  of  Neweom's  Tavern  in  1799  have  been 
reproduced  in  accordance  with  the  most  reliable  information 
which  could  be  obtained,  and  the  artist.  Miss  Rebekah  Rogers, 
has  succeeded  admirably  in  this  difficult  work. 


PREFACE 


Perhaps  there  is  no  iinprox:)riety  in  saying  in  a  preface  to  a 
history  of  Dayton  that  no  one  living  here  who  has  undertaken 
literary,  jDhilanthropic,  or  other  public  work  can  help  feeling  that 
Dayton  is  a  good  place  to  live  in,  so  ready  is  the  response  and 
generous  the  support  and  apj^reciation  received.  Thus,  it  seems 
to  the  student  of  our  history,  it  has  been  from  the  beginning. 
The  imagination  catches  fire  and  the  heart  glows  with  enthusiasm 
over  the  stoiy  of  the  labors  for  the  public  good  which  the  pioneers 
shared,  and  the  respect  and  admiration  which  they  felt  for  the 
benefactors  of  their  beloved  town.  They  should  be  held  up  as 
exami^les  to  our  youth,  and  their  biographies  used  as  manuals  for 
training  in  noble  character. 

One  lougs  for  the  power  to  make  the  old  times  and  the  old 
settlei's  live  again,  with  their  contented  but  simple  and  unadorned 
domestic  lives,  their  home-made  buckskin  or  linsey-woolsey 
garments,  their  limited  and  cautious  business  undertakings,  con- 
trasting strangely  with  exciting  jDcrils  in  storms  and  floods  and 
dangerous  adventures  with  wild  beasts  and  Indians — to  tell  a 
story  with  the  genuine  pioneer  flavor  which  descendants  of  the 
forefathers  would  read  with  relish  and  profit. 

''Early  Dayton"  is  written  from  the  personal  and  social  stand- 
point, and  it  was  not  the  intention  to  give  a  complete  and 
consecutive  account  of  the  growth  of  the  corporation  and  the 
business  interests  of  the  city.  Biographies,  with  a  few  necessary 
exeeptious,  have  not  been  inserted  after  the  pioneer  period.  Had 
the  lives  of  sons  and  grandchildren  as  well  as  of  grandparents 
been  wi'itten,  the  history  would  have  filled  more  than  one  large 
volume. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1895,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  H.  H. 
Weakley,  who  has  in  many  practical  ways  shown  his  interest  in 
Dayton  and  its  writers,  I  wrote  a  series  of  letters  on  the  early  his- 
tory of  Dayton  for  the  Herald.  These  letters,  which  were  received 
with  many  words  of  commendation  both  to  author  aud  publisher, 


VI  PREFACE 

form  the  basis  of  the  present  volume,  though  large  and  important 
additions  have  been  made.  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain, 
through  conversation  and  correspondence  with  descendants  of 
pioneers,  some  facts  and  anecdotes  never  before  publislied. 

Free  use  has  been  made  of  the  chapters  in  the  "History  of 
Dayton"  written  by  my  father  shortly  before  his  death,  and  his 
name  appears  with  mine  on  the  title-page. 

When  the  manuscript  of  "Early  Dayton"  was  almost  finished, 
circumstances  rendered  it  necessary  for  me  to  abandon  all  literary 
work.  My  friend  Miss  Harriet  M.  King,  a  born  student  and  excel- 
lent writer,  generously  volunteered  to  wi-ite  the  concluding  two 
chapters  ( Chapters  X  and  XI )  of  the  booli,  bringing  it  down  to 
date.  It  requires  literary  skill  to  write  a  brief  and  condensed  yet 
clear  and  interesting  account  of  an  extended  period.  Miss  King 
has  told  the  story  of  modern  Dayton  in  a  charming  manner,  and 
those  who  read  her  valuable  contribution  will  perceive  how  greatly 
indebted  I  am  to  her.  Words  fail  me  when  I  attempt  to  express 
my  obligation. 

From  Mr.  E.  L.  Shuey  I  received,  while  my  history  was  being 
written  and  j)ublished,  assistance  and  encouragement  of  a  very 
unusual  kind,  for  which  I  am  deeply  grateful.  I  desire  to  make 
similar  acknowledgments  to  Mr.  W.  A.  Shuey,  who  not  only 
relieved  me  of  responsibility  and  labor,  but  secured  the  accuracy 
and  added  to  the  merit  of  the  volume  by  his  careful  proof-reading 
and  general  supervision,  his  elaborate  index  and  table  of  contents, 
and  the  excellent  illustrations  which  he  procured  ;  but,  above  all, 
by  his  interesting  and  useful  "Chronological  Record"  and  "His- 
torical and  Statistical  Tables"  for  ready  reference,  which  cover  the 
history  and  progress  of  this  region  from  1749  to  1896.  If  all  pub- 
lishers were  like  mine,  societies  for  the  protection  of  authors  would 
never  have  existed.  I  cannot  let  slip  the  opportunity  to  express  my 
appreciation  of  the  interest  Mr.  W.  L.  Blocher  has  shown  in  secur- 
ing the  mechanical  perfection  of  various  literary  productions  of 
mine.  I  am  under  obligations  to  the  United  Brethren  Publishing 
House  for  their  courtesy  in  allowing  me  the  unrestricted  use  of  the 
"History  of  Dayton,"  of  which  they  own  the  copyright. 

Mary  Da  vies  Steele. 
Dayton,  Ohio,  February  1,  1896. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SETTLEMENT 

PAGE 

Gist's  Visit  to  the  Miami  Valley  in  1751  —  Valuable  Timber— Well 
"Watered — "Wild  Animals  — Natural  Meadows  — A  Most  Delightful 
Country — Fertility  and  Beauty  —  Keutuckians  Long  to  Dispossess 
the  Indians  — The  Valley  Called  the  Miami  Slaughter-House  — Dayton 
on  the  Site  of  the  Indian  Hunting-Ground  —  A  Favorite  Rendezvous 
for  Indian  Hunting  and  War  Parties — General  George  Rogers  Clark's 
Expedition  to  Ohio — Clark's  Second  Expedition  —  Skirmish  on  Site 
of  Dayton — Logan's  Campaign  in  1786 — Second  Skirmish  on  Site  of 
Dayton — Venice  on  Site  of  Dayton — Venice  Abandoned  —  General 
Wayne's  Campaign— Treaty  of  Peace— Site  of  Dayton  Purchased 
from  Symmes— Original  Proprietors  of  Dayton  — Survey  of  the  Pur- 
chase—  D.  C.  Cooper  Cuts  a  Road  —  Dayton  Laid  Out  and  Named — 
Streets  Named  —  Lottery  Held  on  Site  of  Town — Lots  and  Inlots 
Donated  to  Settlers  Drawn  —  Settlers  Permitted  to  Purchase  One 
Hundred  and  Sixty  Acres  at  a  French  Crown  per  Acre  —  Names  of 
Original  Settlers  of  Dayton — Three  Parties  Leave  Cincinnati  in 
March,  1796 — Hamer's  Party  Travels  in  a  Two-Horse  Wagon  — New- 
corn's  Party  Makes  the  Journey  on  Horseback  —  Thompson's  Party 
Ascend  the  Miami  in  a  Pirogue— Description  of  the  Voyage— Poling 
Up  Stream— Beauty  of  the  Landscape— Supper  in  the  Miami  Woods 
—  Names  of  the  Passengers  in  the  Pirogue — Ten  Days  from  Cincinnati 
to  Dayton  — Mrs.  Thoinpson  the  First  to  Land  — Indians  Encamped 
at  Dayton  —  Land  at  Head  of  St.  Clair  Street  —  The  Uninhabited 
Forest  All  that  Welcomed  Them  —Encouraging  Indications  — Tempo- 
rary Protection — Log  Cabins  —  Wholly  Dependent  on  Eacli  Other's 
Society  — Monument  Avenue  Cleared  —  Town  Covered  with  Hazelnut 
Thickets— Dr.  Elliott's  Purple  Silk  Coat  — Dayton  Hard  to  Find  by  the 
Traveler— Ague  — Communal  Corn-Field  —  Mary  Van  Cleve— Indians 
Attack  the  Thompson  Cabin,      -       ~ 17 

CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  SETTLERS 

Daniel  C.  Cooper — Newcom's  Tavern  —  Cooper  Park  —  Mr.  Cooper  Be- 
comes Titular  Proprietor  of  the  Town  —  His  Improvements  and  Liber- 
ality—Indians Frequent  Visitors  — Playing  Marbles  at  Midnight — 
Robert  Edgar  — First  Store  in  Dayton  — Henry  Brown  — First  Flatboat 

vii 


11  CONTENTS 

—  Furniture  of  the  Nine  Cabins  Constituting  Dayton  — Food— Game 

—  Hogs  Introduced  — Fish  — Ulockhousc  for  Defense  Against  Indians 
Buiit  at  Dayton  — First  Scliool  in  Dayton  — Benjamin  Van  Clevo's 
Autobiography  — Early  Life  of  Van  Cleve— Battle  of  Monmouth  — 
Wagon  Journey  of  the  Van  Cleves  Across  the  Mountains — Murder 
of  John  Van  C'lcve  at  Cincinnati  by  Indians  — Benjamin  Van  Cleve 
Supports  His  Father's  Family  — Belf-Educated— Employed  in  Quar- 
termaster's Department  of  Western  Army  — St.  Clair's  Defeat— Em- 
ployed in  Flatboating  by  Army  Contractors— In  Charge  of  Army 
Horses  and  Cattle— Sent  Express  to  Philadelphia  by  Quartermas- 
ter's Department— Sent  by  General  Knox  from  Philadelphia  to 
Conduct  Pair  of  Horses  to  Indian  Chief  Brant  — Quarrel  with  Gen- 
eral Knox  — Meets  Brant  in  New  York  — Studious  Life  After  Return 
to  Philadelphia— Sent  West  with  Dispatches  to  General  Wayne- 
Journey  by  Boat  from  Wheeling,  Accompanied  by  Officers  and 
Recruits — Cheated  Out  of  His  Pay  — Flatboating  to  Kentucky  — 
Sutler  at  Fort  Greenville— Sent  by  Army  Contractor  to  Fort  Massac 
with  Two  Boats  Loaded  with  Provisions  — Adventure  at  Fort  Massac 
with  Major,  Called  "King,"  Doyle  — Returning,  Visits  Red  Banks,  a 
Resort  of  Thieves  and  Cutthroats  — Drives  Cattle  to  Greenville,  Fort 
Wayne,  and  Fort  Washington— Accompanies  Captain  Dunlap  to 
Make  the  Survey  of  the  Dayton  Settlement— Adventures  as  a  Sur- 
veyor-Keeps Field-Notes  During  Rain  on  Blocks  of  Wood  — Settles 

in  Dayton— Surveying,  Writing,  and  Farming  — Trials,    -       -       -       -    29 


CHAPTER  III 

PIONEER   LIFE 

Two  Houses  on  Main  Street  in  1V99  — Small  Size  of  Cabins  — Description 
by  W.  C.  Howells  of  a  Home  of  the  Period  — Newcom's  Tavern,  First 
House  in  Dayton,  Chinked  with  Mortar— Corner  Monument  Avenue 
and  Main  Street  the  Business  Center  of  Dayton  — First  White  Child 
Born  in  Dayton  — Biography  of  Colonel  Newcom— Wearisome  Journey 
Through  the  Woods  to  Dayton  —  Camping  at  Night— Newcom's  Tavern 
Described  — Relics  — Old  Clock  and  Brass  Candlestick  — First  County 
Court  Held  at  Tavern  — Money  Scarce  — Convicted  Persons  Fined  a 
Deerskin  or  a  Bushel  of  Corn — Sentenced  to  Thirtj'-Nine  Lashes  on 
Bare  Back  — Sheriff  Newcom's  Primitive  Prison  a  Corn-Crib  and  a 
Dry  Well  —  Anecdotes  of  Visits  of  Troublesome  Indians  to  the  Tav- 
ern—Colonel Newcom  Introduces  Apples  — First  Wedding  in  Dayton 
—Benjamin  Van  Cleve's  Characteristic  Account  of  the  Event— Mr. 
Van  Cleve's  Hospitalitj'  to  Strangers — Usefulness  to  the  New  Town — 
W.  C.  Howells's  Description  of  Social  Life  in  Pioneer  Times  — Fire- 
Hunting  on  the  Miami  — Women  Helped  Their  Husbands  in  the 
Fields  — Dependent  on  the  Husband's  and  Father's  Gun  for  Meals- 
Pelts  and  Bear's  Oil  Articles  of  Merchandise  — Skins  Used  for  Clothes, 
Moccasins,  Rugs,  and  Coverlets  — Business  Conducted  by  Barter — 
Ginseng,  Peltries,  Beeswax,  etc..  Used  as  Money— Cut-Money  or 
Sharp  Shins  — Charges  Made  in  Pounds,  Shillings,  and  Pence— Wild 
Animals  — First  Mill,  a  Corn-Cracker,  Built  by  D.  C.  Cooper— Log 
Meeting-House  Built  — Dayton  First  Governed  Wholly  by  County 
Commissioners  and  Township  Assessors— D.  C.  Cooper  Justice  of  the 


CONTENTS  IX 

Peace— Early  Marriages  —  Petition  Presented  to  Congress  by  Settlers 

—  The  Town  Nearlj'  Dies  Out — D.  C.  Cooper,  Titular  Proprietor,  Resus- 
citates It— Town  Plats  —  Basis  of  Titles  —  Ohio  a  State— Montgomery 
Separated  from  Hamilton  County —  Population  Increases  —  First  Elec- 
tion—  First  County  Court  —  Mr.  Cooper  Builds  Saw-  and  Grist-Mills 

—  Levees  — New  Graveyard  — Log-Cabin  Meeting-House  Sold  — New 
First  Presbyterian  Church— Mr.  Cooper's  Death— First  Jail,  -       -       -    51 


CHAPTER  IV 

i8cx)-i8o5 

John  W.  Van  Cleve— First  White  Male  Child  Born  in  Dayton— Friend- 
ship for  R.  W.  Steele  — Biographies  of  Van  Cleve  by  R.  W.  Steele  — 
Minutes  Kept  and  Societies  Founded  by  Van  Cleve  —  His  Exquisite 
Handwriting— His  Versatility  and  Thoroughness— Profleiency  in 
Ancient  and  Modern  Languages  —  Teaches  Latin  at  College  Before 
Graduation  —  Talent  for  Mathematics  —  Translations  —  Water-Color 
Pictures  of  Wild  Flowers  — A  True  Book-Lover— Studies  Law  — Edits 
the  Dayton  Journal  — In  the  Drug  Business  — Devotes  Himself  to 
Labors  for  the  Public  Good — A  Civil  Engineer — An  Engraver — Tal- 
ent for  Painting  — Plays  Several  Musical  Instruments  — A  Botanist 
and  Geologist— To  Him  We  Owe  Woodland  Cemetery  — Love  of 
Plants  and  Trees  — Plants  the  Levees  with  Trees  — Surrounds  the 
Court-House  with  Elms  — Fondness  for  Children —Delightful  Picnics 
—His  Great  Size  — Interest  in  Schools  and  Libraries  — Founder  and 
Supporter  of  Dayton  Librarj^  Association  — Free  Lectures  on  Scien- 
tific, Historical,  or  Literary  Subjects  — Affection  and  Pride  with 
Which  He  was  Regarded  —  Devotion  to  His  Kindred  —  Friendship 
Between  Him  and  His  Father— Public  Offices  in  Town  That  He  Held 
—His  Map  of  Day  ton  —  Writes  Songs  and  Designs  and  Engraves  Illus- 
trations for  the  Log  Cabin— The  Whig  Glee  Club  Trained  by  Professor 
Turpin  — Mr.  Van  Cleve  and  Others  Accompany  the  Club  to  the 
Columbus  Convention  — His  Death  — His  Unbending  Integrity  and 
Scrupulous  Honesty  — Council  Passes  Resolutions  of  Respect— Dr.  T. 
E.  Thomas's  Funeral  Oration  — Isaac  Spining— William  King— The 
Osborns— John  H.  Williams— The  First  Postofflce  in  Dayton  — Mail- 
Routes— Post-Rider  to  Urbana  — Trials  of  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  First 
Postmaster- His  Successor,  George  S.  Houston— Joseph  Peirce— 
Joseph  H.  Crane— Colonel  Robert  Patterson  — Schools— Dayton  In- 
corporated—McCullum's  Tavern— Social  Library  Society,     -       -       -    67 


CHAPTER  V 

1S05- 1809 

FiKST  Disastrous  Flood  — Emigrants  from  New  Jersey— Charles  Russell 
Greene  — Ferries  — First  Court-House  — First  Newspaper  — First  Brick 
Stores  — James  Steele  — Robert  W.  Steele  — Dayton  Academy— James 
Hanna— John  Folkerth  — First  Teachers  in  the  Academy— William 
M.  Smith  — James  H.  Mitchell  — E.  E.  Barney— Trustees  of  Academy 
in  1833— Collins  Wight— MiloG.  Williams  — Transfer  of  Academy  to 


CONTENTS 

Board  of  Education  — Henry  Bacon  — Luther  Bruen  — Antislavery 
Excitement  — Arrest  and  Suicide  of  a  Fugitive  Slave  —  Colored  People 
Leave  Dayton  for  Hayti  —  A  Colonization  Society  Formed— Anti- 
slavery  Society —  Union  Meeting-House,  Principally  Built  by  Luther 
Bruen  — Dr.  Birney  and  Mr.  Rankin  Mobbed  — Dr.  H.  Jewett— Dr. 
John  Steele  —  Advertisement  of  a  Runaway  Slave — Jonathan  Harsh- 
man —  First  Brick  Residence  —  The  Cannon  "Mad  Anthony" — Rev. 
James  Welsh,  M.D.— Dr.  John  Elliott  — Town  Prospering— No  Care 
Taken  of  Streets  or  Walks  —  Grimes's  Tavern  —  Alexander  Grimes 
— Reid's  Inn  — Colonel  Reid  —  Second  Newspaper,  the  Repertory  — 
Advertisements  in  the  Repertory  —  Matthew  Patton — Abram  Darst 
—  Pioneer  Women, 


CHAPTER  VI 

1809- 1S12 

William  Eaker— George  W.  Smith  — Roads— Journeys  to  the  East — 
Goods  Brought  by  Conestoga  Wagons  and  Broadhorns  to  Ohio— Pack- 
Horses  Moving  Up  Main  Street— Groceries  from  New  Orleans  by  Keel- 
Boats —  A  Voyage  from  New  Orleans  Described  —  Country  Stores  — 
Drinking  Customs  —  Flatboating  South  —  Excitement  When  the 
Fleets  of  Boats  Left  Dayton— Arrival  of  a  Large  Keel-Boat  — Fourth 
of  July  from  1809  to  1840— The  First  Drug-Store  — Indians  and  Wild 
Animals  Both  Troublesome  —  Rewards  for  Wolf-Scalps— New  Side- 
walks and  Ditches  or  Gutters — Ohio  Ceiitlnel — Earthquakes — William 
Huffman  — Ohio  Militia  Encamped  at  Dayton  — Business  Beginning' 
of  1812— Horatio  G.  Phillips— J.  D.  Phillips— Obadiah  B.  Conover,       -  101 


CHAPTER  VII 

1S12-1S16 

Dr.  John  Steele— 1812  and  1813  Years  of  Excitement— Dread  of  Indians- 
Colonel  Johnston's  Control  of  the  Indians  —  Madison  Orders  Out  Ohio 
Militia — Battalion  Muster  at  Dayton  — Militia  Bivouac  Without 
Tents  at  Cooper  Park— Governor  Meigs  Arrives— Issues  a  Call  to 
Citizens  for  Blankets  —  General  Gano  and  General  Cass  Arrive  — 
Three  Regiments  of  Infantry  Formed — Captain  William  Van  Cleve  — 
General  Hull  Arrives  — Governor  Meigs  Surrenders  Command  to  Gen- 
eral Hull  —  The  Governor  and  General  Review  the  Troops  — The  Three 
Regiments  March  Across  Mad  River  to  Camp  Meigs  —  Leave  Camp 
Meigs  for  Detroit  —  Munger's  Brigade  Ordered  Here  to  Garrison  the 
Town  —  Hull's  Surrender — Consternation  of  the  People  — Handbills 
Issued  at  Dayton  Calling  for  Volunteers  —  Captain  Steele's  Company  — 
Kentucky  Troops  Arrive  Here  — Harrison  Calls  for  Volunteers  and 
Horses —Dayton  Ladies  Make  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  Shirts  for 
Soldiers  — Expedition  Against  Indians  Near  Munciet own  — Defeated 
Soldiers  Bring  Wounded  to  Dayton  —Hospital  on  Court-House  Corner 
—  War— Jerome  Holt  — War  Ended  — Dayton  Companies  Welcomed 
Home— First  Dayton  Bank— O/iio  Centinel—^tone  Jail  — Mr.  For- 
rer's  Reminiscences  of  Dayton  in  1814— First  Methodist  Church  — 


CONTENTS  XI 

William  Hamer — Aaron  Baker — Ohia  Republican — Ohio  Watchman 
—  Medical  Societies  — Dr.  Job  Haines  —  Female  Charitable  and  Bible 
Society  —  First  Market-House  — Moral  Society — Associated  Bachelors 
—First  Theater, -  115 


CHAPTER  VIII 

1816-1835 

New  Brick  Court-House  of  1817— Ferries— First  Bridges— Sabbath-School 
Association  —  Sunday-School  Society — Game  Abundant — Flights  of 
Wild  Pigeons  —  Migrations  of  Squirrels  —  Fish  —  Stage-Coaches — St. 
Thomas  Episcopal  Church  —  Christ  Episcopal  Church  —  Shows — Vol- 
unteer Fire  Department,  1820  to  1863 — Leading  Citizens  Active  Mem- 
bers—  Feuds  Between  Rival  Engine  Companies— Financial  Depression, 
1820  to  1822  — Fever— Lancasterian  School— Francis  Glaus— Cfridir on 
Newspaper — Miami  Republican  and  Dayton  Advertise)- — George  B.  Holt 

—  Consolidation  of  Watchman  and  Republican — Dayton  Journxd — Con- 
tribution to  the  Greek  Cause  —  James  Perrine,  First  Insurance  Agent 

—  First  Baptist  Church  Built — Letter  from  Dayton  in  1827 — Canal 
Agitation— Dinner  and  Reception  to  De  Witt  Clinton  — First  Canal- 
Boat  Arrives — Enthusiasna  of  the  People — Extension  of  Canal  by 
Cooper  Estate  —  Law  Providing  for  Election  of  Mayor — Town  Divided 
into  Wards  — Temperance  Society — New  Market-House  —  Rivalry 
Between  Dayton  and  Cabintown — Private  Schools — Manual-Train- 
ing School  — Seely's  Basin — Peasley's  Garden — Miniature  Locomotive 
and  Car  Exhibited  in  Methodist  Church— Daytonians  Take. Their 
First  Railroad  Ride— Seneca  Indians  Camp  at  Dayton  — First  Public 
Schools  —  School-Directors — Steele's  Dam — General  R.  C.  Schenck  — 
Political  Excitement  —  Council  Cuts  Down  a  Jackson  Pole  —  Cholera 
in  1832  and  1833— Silk  Manufactory  — The  Dayton  Lyceum  — Mechan- 
ics' Institute — Six  Libraries  in  Dayton  —  Eighth  of  January  Barbecue 
^Town  Watchmen  — Lafayette  Commemorative  Services,      -       -       -135 


CHAPTER  IX 

1836- 1 S40 

Meastjres  Proposed  for  Improving  the  Town  in  1836 — Proceedings  of 
Council  —  Public  Meeting  to  Sustain  Council  —  Cooper  Park  — Dayton 
Business  Men  in  1836  — Educational  Convention  in  1836— Shinplasters 
—Thomas  Morrison  — Zoological  Museum  — William  Jennison  — First 
Railroad  — Turnpikes  — First  Public-School  Buildings  — Opposition  to 
Public  Schools  — Processions  of  School  Children  and  Other  Efforts  to 
Excite  an  Interest  in  Public  Schools  — Samuel  Forrer  Takes  Charge 
of  Turnpikes— His  Biography  — Midnight  Markets  — Cooper  Hy- 
draulic—Change of  Channel  of  Mad  River— First  County  Fair— 
Morus  Multicaulis  Excitement— Dayton  Carpet  Manufactory  — Num- 
ber of  Buildings  Erected  in  1839— io^'  Cabin  Newspaper— Harrison 
Convention  — Numbers  in  Attendance— Hospitality  of  Dayton  Peo- 
ple—Banners Presented, 163 


Xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  X 

DAYTON  FROM    1840  TO   1896 

The  Beginniug  of  "the  Forties"— Distinguished  Visitors— Schools — 
Oregon  — West  Dayton  — Banks  — Police  Department  — New  Jail  and 
Court-House— Cemeteries— Dayton  Bar— General  Robert  C.  Schenck 

—  Clement  L.  Vallandigham  — Thomas  Brown  — Prominent  Physi- 
cians—Public Library  — Churches  — Floods  — Cholera— The  Mexican 
■VVar  — First  Telegraph  Message— Gas  and  Electric  Light— Railroads- 
Street- Railroads— Fire  Department— Water-Works— Dayton  Orphan 
Asylum  — Young  Men's  Christian  Association  —  Woman's  Christian 
Association  — Young  Women's  League— St.  Elizabeth  Hospital— Prot- 
estant Deaconess  Hospital  —  Musical  Societies  — Literary  Clubs  — Im- 
provements—  Manufacturing  and  Mercantile  Interests  —  Natural  Gas 

—  Newspapers  — Periodicals— David  Stout  — Ebenezer  Thresher— Val- 
entine Winters— Frederick  Gebhart— Robert  W.  Steele,  -       -       -       -183 

CHAPTER  XI 

DAYTON   IN  THE   CIVIL  WAR 

The  Opening  of  the  War— Fall  of  Sumter— Recruiting— Dayton  Light 
Guards  — Light  Artillerj-— Lafayette  Guards— Deiiarture  of  Troops  — 
— Anderson  Guards  — Dayton  Riflemen  — Zouave  Rangers  — Buckeye 
Guard— State  Guard  — Camp  Corwin  — Camp  Dayton  — Families  of 
Soldiers  Cared  For- Advance  of  Kirby  Smith  — R.  C.  Schenck  Elected 
to  Congress  —  Union  League  Formed — Arrest  of  Vallandigham  — 
Journal  Office  Burned  — Morgan's  Raid  — Colonel  King— Empire  Office 
Mobbed  — Procession  of  Wood- Wagons— Women's  Work  for  the  Sol- 
diers— The  Home-Guard  —  Return  of  Companies  A  and  E — Another 
Call  for  Troops— Last  Draft  of  the  War— Lee's  Surrender— Assassin- 
ation of  Lincoln  — Admiral  Schenck  — Rear-Admiral  Greer— Pay- 
master McDaniel— National  Military  Home— Soldiers'  Monument,     -  202 

CoLO>rEL  Israel  Ludlow, 213 

HISTORICAL   AND   STATISTICAL  TABLES 

XiOCATiON  and  Area  — Population  —  City  Government  and  Institutions  — 
Mayor  — Board  of  City  Affaii's — City  Council  —  Board  of  Elections 
—Board  of  Equalization  — Miscellaneous  — Public  Schools— Public 
Library  —  Police  Department  —  Work  -  House  —  Fire  Department  — 
Water -Works  — Board  of  Health  — City  Infirmary- Markets— Tax 
Commission  —Taxes  for  1891-96— Bonded  Debt— Periodicals— Churches 

—  Church  and  Private  Schools— Benevolent  and  Charitable  Institu- 
tions—Literary and  Musical  Societies  — Political  Clubs  — Social, 
Cycling,  Gymnastic,  and  Other  Clubs  — Military  Companies — Street- 
Railways  — Street  Improvements  — Commercial  and  Industrial  — Post- 
office  Statistics,  1895— Partial  Enumeration  of  Mercantile,  Manufac- 
turing, and  Other  Concerns— Chronological  Record,         -       -       -       -221 

Bibliography, 238 

Index,        .....--.. 241 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PORTRAITS. 
D.  C.  Cooper,  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -         Frontispiece 

Opposite  Page 

John  Cle\'es  Symmes,         -          -          -          -                    -          -          -  17 

General  George  Rogers  Clark,    -          -          .                                -  -    20 

General  Anthony  Wayne,        ....  20 

Governor  Arthur  St.  Clair,          .          .          .          .          .  -    20 

General  James  Wilkinson,       .          .          -          .          ,  20 

General  Jonathan  Dayton,           -          -          -          -  -    21 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve,       ........  48 

Colonel  George  Newcom,      .-.-..          ^  .    52 

Mrs.  Jane  Newcom  Wilson,        -          .          .          .          .                     -  00 

Nathaniel  Wilson,      --....          ^          -  -    01 

Colonel  Robert  Patterson,       .          .          .                     ~  84 

Robert  W.  Steele,        --....-  -    92 

General  Robert  C.  Schenck,    -----  204 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

1790-1894. 

The  Landing  of  the  First  Settlers,     -         -          -          ■          -  -    28 

Original  Plan  of  Dayton,         ......  29 

Newcom's  First  Log  Cabin,  Built  in  1796,        -          -  -    32 

Newcom's  Tavern  IN  1799,  -          -          -          -          .          .                    -  5;i 

Plan  of  Dayton  in  1805,         .--......    64 

Plan  of  Dayton  in  1809,    -          -          -          -          -          -          - .    '     -  65 

The  Old  Acadejiy,  1833-1857, -  -    93 

F1R.ST  Presbyterian  Church,  1839-1867,         -          -                     -          -  100 

Main  Street  in  1846,      .          .          -          -          -          .          -           -  -  loi 

FiR-ST  AND  LUDLOVr  STREETS  IN   1846,      ------  108 

East  Side  of  Main  Street,  Between  Second  and  Third,  in  1855,  -  109 

Central  High  School,  1857-1893,           -          -          -          -          -          -  116 

Flood  of  1866,  as  Seen  from  the  Head  of  Main  Street,           -  -  117 

newcom's  Tavern  in  1891,-          -         -          -          -          -          -  124 


XIV  ILLUSTRATIONS 

ISilti. 

Opposite  Pme« 

The  Landing-Place  and  Neavcom's  Tavern  in  Janttary,  1896,  -  125 

County  Biildings,   ---------       132 

Government  Building  and  Postofkice,  -  -  -  -  -  133 

City  Buildings,  ..-------        140 

Public  Library  and  Cooper  Park,         - 141 

Steele  High  School,  ..-....-        148 

Central  District  School,      -  -  -  -  -  -  •  -  149 

Main  Street,  Looking  North  from  Below  Fourth,    -  -  -        156 

Third  Street,  Looking  East  from  Main,         -  -  -  -  -  157 

Jii'XFTH  Street,  Looking  East  from  Main,    -----        164 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building,        -  -  -  -  172 

Woman's  Christian  Association  Building,  .  .  -  -        173 

Protestant  Deaconess  Hospital,  -  -  -         -         -         -  -  I80 

St.  Elizabeth  Hospital,  --------181 

First  Presbyterian  Church,         -  -         -  -         -         -         -188 

Third  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  -----        189 

Grace  Methodist  Church,    -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  192 

Sacred  Heart  Roman  Catholic  Church,   -----        193 

Synagogue,  -----------196 

Entrance  to  Woodland  Cemetery,   ------        197 

The  Soldiers'  Monument,  and  Apartment  House  on  the  Site  of 

Newcom's  Tavern,     -  -  -  .  .  -  -  -       2O8 

National  Military  Hosie,     -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -209 

TAILPIECES. 

Fireplace  and  Spinning -Wheel.  -  -  -  -  -  -    28 

Blockhouse,     -----  ...        50 

Hearth,       .  .  -  ...  -    66 

MAPS. 

Map  of  Dayton  in  1&39, 250 

Map  of  Dayton  in  1895^      -  -  -----       254 

Map  of  Ohio,         -..-------257 


EARLY  DAYTON 


JOHN  CLEVES  SYMMES. 


EARLY  DAYTON 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    SETTLEMENT 

Gist's  Visit  to  the  Miami  Valley  in  1751— Valuable  Timber— Well  Watered- 
Wild  Animals— Natural  Meadows  — A  Most  Delightful  Country  — Fertil- 
ity and  Beauty —  Kentuckians  Long  to  Dispossess  the  Indians— The  Valley 
Called  the  Miami  Slaughter-House  — Dayton  on  the  Site  of  the  Indian 
Hunting-Ground  — A  Favorite  Rendezvous  for  Indian  Hunting  and 
War  Parties  — General  George  Rogers  Clark's  Expedition  to  Ohio  — Clark's 
Second  Expedition  — Skirmish  on  Site  of  Dayton  — Logan's  Campaign  in 
1786— Second  Skirmish  on  Site  of  Dayton  — Venice  on  Site  of  Dayton- 
Venice  Abandoned  — General  Wayne's  Campaign— Treaty  of  Peace— Site 
of  Dayton  Purchased  from  Symmes  — Original  Proprietors  of  Dayton  — 
Survey  of  the  Purchase  — D.  C.  Cooper  Cuts  a  Road  — Dayton  Laid  Out 
and  Named  — Streets  Named  — Lottery  Held  on  Site  of  Town  — Lots  and 
Inlots  Donated  to  Settlers  Drawn  — Settlers  Permitted  to  Purchase  One 
Hundred  and  Sixty  Acres  at  a  French  Crown  per  Acre  — Names  of  Original 
Settlers  of  Dayton— Three  Parties  Leave  Cincinnati  in  March,  1796— 
Hamer's  Party  Ti-avels  in  a  Two-Horse  Wagon  — Newcom's  Party  Makes 
the  Journey  on  Horseback  — Thompson's  Party  Ascend  the  Miami  in  a 
Pirogue  —  Description  of  the  Voyage  —  Poling  Up  Stream  —  Beauty  of  the 
Landscape— Supper  in  the  Miami  Woods  — Names  of  the  Passengers  in 
the  Pirogue  — Ten  Days  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton  —  Mrs.  Thompson  the 
First  to  Land  — Indians  Encamped  at  Dayton  — Land  at  Head  of  St.  Clair 
Street  — The  Uninhabited  Forest  All  that  Welcomed  Them  —  Encouraging 
Indications  — Temporary  Protection  — Log  Cabins— Wholly  Dependent  on 
Each  Other's  Society  — Monument  Avenue  Cleared — Town  Covered  by 
Hazelnut  Thickets— Dr.  Elliott's  Purple  Silk  Coat  — Dayton  Hard  to  Find 
by  the  Traveler  — Ague— Communal  Corn-Field  — Mary  Van  Cleve  — 
Indians  Attack  the  Thompson  Cabin. 

-The  report  of  the  French  INIajor  Celoron  de  Bienville,  who, 
in  August,  1749,  ascended  the  La  Roche  or  Big  Miami  River  in 
bateaux  to  visit  the  Tvvightwee  villages  at  Piqua,  has  been 
preserved  ;  but  Gist,  the  agent  of  the  Virginians  who  formed  the 
Ohio  Land  Compan}-,  was  probably  the  first  person  who  wrote 
a  description  in  English  of  the  region  surrounding  Dayton. 
Gist  visited  the  Twightwee  or  Miami  villages  in  1751.     He  was 

2  17 


l8  EARLY    DAYTON 

delighted  with  the  fertile  and  well-watered  land,  with  its  large 
oak,  walnut,  maple,  ash,  wild  cherry,  and  other  trees.  The 
countrj^  he  says,  abounded  "with  turkeys,  deer,  elk,  and  most 
sorts  of  game,  particularly  buffaloes,  thirty  or  forty  of  which 
are  frequently  seen  feeding  in  one  meadow ;  in  short,  it  wants 
nothing  but  cultivation  to  make  it  a  most  delightful  country. 
The  land  upon  the  Great  Miami  is  very  rich,  level,  and  well 
timbered  —  some  of  the  finest  meadows  that  can  be.  The  grass 
here  grows  to  a  great  height  on  the  clear  fields,  of  which  there 
are  a  great  number,  and  the  bottoms  are  full  of  white  clover, 
wild  rye,  and  blue  grass."  A  number  of  white  traders  were 
living  at  the  Miami  villages  and  in  one  of  their  houses  Gist 
lodged.  It  is  stated  by  pioneer  writers  that  buffaloes  and  elk 
disappeared  from  Ohio  about  the  year  1795. 

Long  before  any  permanent  settlement  was  made  in  the 
jNIiami  Valley,  its  beauty  and  fertility  were  known  by  the  people 
beyond  the  Alleghanies  and  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky,  who 
considered  it  an  "earthly  paradise,"  and  repeated  efforts  were 
made  to  get  possession  of  it.  These  efforts  led  to  retaliation  on 
the  part  of  the  Indians,  who  resented  the  attempts  to  dispossess 
them  of  their  lands,  and  the  continuous  raids  back  and  forth 
across  the  Ohio  River  to  gain  or  keep  possession  of  the  valley 
caused  it  to  be  called,  until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  "Miami  slaughter-house."  The  wild  animals — wolves, 
wildcats,  bears,  panthers,  foxes  —  which  roamed  through  the 
valle\'  now  so  peaceful  and  prosperous  were  scarcely  more  brutal 
and  fierce  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  infrequent  villages  scat- 
tered along  the  borders  of  the  Miami  hunting-grounds — the 
terrible  "  Indian  country,"  the  abode  of  cruelty  and  death,  which 
the  imagination  of  trembling  women  in  far-distant  blockhouses 
invested  with  all  the  horrors  of  a  veritable  hell  on  earth.  The 
pioneers  of  Kentucky  looked  with  jealous  and  envious  eyes  on 
this  great  Indian  game  preserve.  The  wily  and  suspicious 
savages  did  their  best  to  exclude  them ;  but,  though  they  ventured 
over  here  at  the  risk  of  being  burned,  they  frequently  came  alone 
or  in  small  parties  to  hunt  or  rescue  some  friend  captured  in  a 
raid  into  Kentucky  by  the  Indians.  Before  the  Miami  Valley 
had  ever  been  visited  by  whites,  the  country  lying  between  the 
Great  and  Little  Miamis,  and  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Ohio 
and  on  the  north  by  Mad  River,  was  used  only  as  a  hunting- 
ground.     Dayton  lies  just  within  this  former  immense  game  pre- 


the;  settlement  19 

serve.  Probably  no  wigwam  has  been  built  and  no  Indians  have 
lived  on  the  site  of  Dayton  since  1700.  The  site  of  Dayton  was 
a  favorite  rendezvous  for  Indian  hunters  or  warriors.  Parties 
came  down  the  Miami  in  canoes,  and,  having  formed  a  camp 
of  supplies  at  the  mouth  of  Mad  River  in  charge  of  squaws,  set 
out  on  their  raids  or  hunts. 

In  the  summer  of  17S0,  General  George  Rogers  Clark  led  an 
expedition  of  experienced  Indian  fighters  to  Ohio  against  the 
Shawnees  near  Xenia  and  Springfield.  He  defeated  the  Indians. 
By  this  victory  the  homes,  crops,  and  other  property  of  about 
four  thousand  Shawnees  were  destroyed,  and  for  some  time  they 
were  wholl}^  engaged  in  rebuilding  their  wigwams,  and  in  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  to  obtain  food  for  their  families.  Among  the 
officers  who  held  command  under  Clark  was  Colonel  Robert 
Patterson,  from  1804  till  1827  a  citizen  of  Dayton. 

Finding  that  the  Indians  were  recovering  from  their  defeat  of 
1780,  Clark,  in  the  fall  of  1782,  led  a  second  expedition  of  one 
thousand  Kentuckians  to  Ohio.  They  met  with  no  resistance 
till  they  reached  the  mouth  of  Mad  River,  on  the  9th  of 
November,  where  they  found  a  small  party  of  Indians  stationed 
to  prevent  their  crossing  the  stream.  A  skirmish  on  the  site  of 
Dayton  followed,  in  which  the  Kentuckians  were  victorious. 
They  spent  the  night  here,  and  then  proceeded  to  Upper  Piqua, 
on  the  Great  Miami.  Having  destroyed  Upper  Piqua,  they  went 
on  to  the  trading-station  of  Laramie,  and  plundered  and  burned 
the  store  and  destroyed  the  Indians'  wigwams  and  crops.  These 
two  expeditions,  or  campaigns,  were  campaigns  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, as  the  Indians  were  friendly  to  the  British. 

For  some  time  after  the  peace  with  Great  Britain  in  1783,  the 
Indians,  who  had  met  with  many  reverses  and  losses  during  the 
Revolution,  did  not  trouble  the  settlements  as  much  as  formerly, 
but  about  1785  they  recommenced  hostilities,  and  in  1786  a  force 
commanded  by  Colonel  Logan  was  sent  against  the  Wabash  and 
Mad  River  villages.  One  of  the  brigades  was  commanded  by 
Colonel  Robert  Patterson.  They  harried  and  ruined  the  Indian 
country,  and  destroyed  eight  towns  and  the  crops  and  vegetables, 
taking  a  large  number  of  horses,  and  leaving  the  Indians  in  a 
state  of  destitution  and  starvation  from  which  it  took  them 
nearly  a  year  to  recover.  The  Kentuckians  returned  to  the  Ohio 
by  the  way  of  Mad  River,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  found  a 
party  of  Indians  on  guard.     With  them  was  Tecumseh,  at  this 


20  EARLY    DAYTOX 

time  about  fourteen  j-ears  of  age.  Having,  after  some  slight 
resistance,  beaten  the  Indians  and  driven  them  up  Mad  River 
and  gained  the  second  battle  or  skirmish  between  whites  and 
Indians  fought  on  the  site  of  Dayton,  the}'  camped  for  the  night. 
Being  well  supplied  with  provisions  taken  from  the  captured 
villages,  they  remained  here  for  two  or  three  days  examining 
land  with  a  view  to  recommending  a  settlement  in  this  neighbor- 
hood. Having  driven  the  Indians  for  the  time  being  out  of  the 
Miami  Valley,  the  Kentvickians,  when  they  departed,  left  an 
uninhabited  country  behind  them. 

In  1789  Major  Benjamin  Stites,  John  Stites  Gano,  and  William 
Goforth  formed  plans  for  a  settlement  to  be  named  Venice,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber,  as  thej-  called  Mad  River.  The  site  of  the 
proposed  city  laj'  within  the  seventh  range  of  townships,  which 
they  agreed  to  purchase  from  John  Cleves  Synmies  for  eighty- 
three  cents  an  acre.  The  deed  was'executed  and  recorded,  and 
the  town  of  Venice,  with  its  two  principal  streets  crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles  and  the  position  of  houses  and  squares 
indicated  in  the  four  quarters  outlined  b}-  the  streets,  was  laid 
out  on  paper.  But  Indian  troubles  and  Sj'mmes's  misunderstand- 
ing with  the  Government  forced  them  to  abandon  the  project,  and 
"we  escaped  being  Venetians." 

In  the  spring  of  1793  General  Wajme  was  made  commander  of 
the  Western  arm}-.  His  victories  over  the  Indians  on  June  30 
and  31  and  August  30,  1794,  ended  four  years  of  Indian  war. 
August  3,  1795,  a  treat)'  of  peace  was  concluded  at  Greenville, 
which  was  regarded  as  securing  the  safet}'  of  settlers  in  the 
Indian  countrj'. 

August  20,  1795,  seventeen  days  after  the  treaty  was  signed,  a 
party  of  gentlemen  contracted  for  the  purchase  of  the  seventh 
and  eighth  ranges  between  Mad  River  and  the  Little  Miami  from 
John  Cleves  S^'uimes,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionar}-  army,  who, 
encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  Ohio  Company,  had,  after  much 
negotiation,  obtained  from  Congress  a  grant  for  the  purchase  of 
one  million  acres  between  the  two  Miamis.  The  purchasers 
of  the  seventh  and  eighth  ranges  were  General  Arthur  St. 
Clair,  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory  ;  General  Jonathan 
Dayton,  after\vard  Senator  from  New  Jersey  ;  General  James 
Wilkinson,  of  Wayne's  army,  and  Colonel  Israel  Ludlow,  from 
Long  Hill,  Morris  County,  New  Jersey.  On  the  21st  of  Sep- 
tember two  parties  of  surveyors  set  out,  one  led  bj-  Daniel  C. 


From  the  "National  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography,' 
by  permission  of  James  T.  "White  &  Co. 


From  the  "National  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography/ 
by  permission  of  James  T.  White  &  Co. 


1«-]^^*'' 


yf^-^^A.^  jLM-uy,, 


X.  l/yyy^  c<\^ix»-f 


From  the  "Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography.' 
Copyright,  1888,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


From  the  "Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography.* 
Copyright,  1880,  by  V    Appleton  &  Co. 


THE    SETTLEMENT  21 

Cooper  to  survey  and  mark  a  road  and  cut  out  some  of  the  brush, 
and  the  other  led  b}'  Captain  John  Dunlap,  which  was  to  run  the 
boundaries  of  the  purchase.  On  the  ist  of  November  the  sur- 
veyors returned  to  Mad  River,  and  Israel  Ludlow  laid  out  the 
town,  which  he  named  for  General  Dayton.  Three  streets  were 
named  St.  Clair,  Wilkinson,  and  Ludlow^  for  the  proprietors. 
Another  was  called,  as  a  sort  of  compromise,  Jefferson,  as  the 
proprietors  were  Federalists.  Da3'ton  was  founded  by  Revolu- 
tionary officers,  and  bears  their  names.  It  is  also  linked  to  the 
War  of  1812  by  a  street  called  for  Commodore  Perry.  For  many 
years  Perry  Street  was  down  on  the  maps  of  the  town  as  Cherry 
Lane. 

On  November  i  a  lottery-  was  held,  and  each  one  present  drew 
lots  for  himself  or  others  who  intended  to  settle  in  the  new 
town.  Each  of  the  settlers  received  a  donation  of  an  inlot  and 
an  outlet.  In  addition,  each  of  them  had  the  privilege  of  pur- 
chasing one  hundred  and  sixt}'  acres  at  a  French  crown,  or  about 
one  dollar  and  thirteen  cents,  per  acre.  The  proprietors  hoped 
by  offering  these  inducements  to  attract  settlers  to  the  place. 

Fortj'-six  men  had  agreed  to  remove  from  Cincinnati  to  Day- 
ton, but  onl}'  nineteen  came.  The  following  men  and  about 
seventeen  women  and  children  were  the  original  settlers  of 
Daj-ton  :  William  Hamer,  Solomon  Hamer,  Thomas  Hamer, 
George  New^com,  William  Newcom,  Abraham  Glassmire,  Thomas 
Davis,  John  Davis,  John  Dorough,  William  Chenoweth,  James 
Morris,  Daniel  Ferrell,  Samuel  Thompson,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve, 
James  McClure,  John  INIcClure,  William  Gahagan,  Solomon 
Goss,  William  Van  Cleve. 

In  March,  1796,  they  left  Cincinnati  in  three  parties,  led 
b>  William  Plamer,  George  Newcom,  and  Samuel  Thompson. 
Hamer's  party  was  the  first  to  start ;  the  other  two  companies 
left  on  Monday,  March  21,  one  b\^  land  the  other  by  water. 
Hamer's  part}^  came  in  a  two-horse  wagon  over  the  road 
begun,  but  only  partially  cut  through  the  woods,  by  Cooper  in 
the  fall  of  1795.  The  company  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam Hamer  and  their  children  Solomon,  Thomas,  Nancy,  Eliza- 
beth, Sarah,  and  Polly,  and  Jonathan  and  Edward  Mercer.  The}^ 
were  delayed,  and  had  a  long,  cold,  and  uncomfortable  journey. 

In  the  other  party  that  traveled  by  land  were  INIr.  and  Mrs. 
George  Newcom  and  their  brother  William.  James  Morris,  John 
Dorough  and  famil}',  Daniel  Ferrell  and  famil}-,  Solomon  Goss 


22  EARLY    DAYTON 

and  family,  John  Davis,  Abraham  Glassmire,  and  William  Van 
Cleve,  who  drove  ]Mr.  Thompson's  cow,  which  was  with  the 
cattle  belonging  to  the  Newcom  division  of  the  colonists. 

Thompson's  party  were  steered  and  poled  by  Benjamin  Van 
Cleve  and  William  Gahagan  in  a  large  pirogue  down  the  Ohio 
to  the  Miami  and  up  that  stream  to  the  mouth  of  Mad  River.  A 
pirogue  was  a  long,  narrow  boat  of  light  draft  and  partly  enclosed 
and  roofed.  It  required  much  skill  and  niu.scular  strength  to 
pole  a  boat  up  stream  for  man}'  miles.  The  men,  each  provided 
with  a  pole  with  a  heavy  socket,  were  placed  on  either  side 
of  the  boat.  They  "set  their  poles  near  the  head  of  the  boat 
and  bringing  the  end  of  the  pole  to  their  shoulders,  with  their 
bodies  bent,  walked  slowly  down  the  running  board  to  the  stern, 
returning  at  a  quick  pace  to  the  bow  for  a  new  set." 

The  ]\Iiami  in  1796  wound  through  an  almost  wholly  uninhab- 
ited wilderness.  Such  a  jovirne}-,  it  seems  to  us,  looking  back 
from  this  safe  and  prosaic  age  when  steam  cars  whirl  us  up  from 
Cincinnati,  must  have  been  full  of  danger  and  of  exciting  adven- 
ture, and  yet  not  without  its  pleasures.  Imagination  invests 
this  little  band  of  adventurers,  laboriously  making  their  wa}- 
with  their  boat-load  of  women  and  children  up  the  Indian-named 
river  and  vallej-  to  a  frontier  home  in  the  ancient  INIiami  hunting- 
grounds,  with  an  atmosphere  of  romance.  On  the  borders  of 
their  ancestral  corn-fields  and  game  preserves  lurked  jealous  and 
revengeful  savages,  gazing  with  envious  and  homesick  eyes  on 
the  rich  lands  of  which  the  pioneers  had  dispossessed  them.  The 
Indian  teign  of  terror,  in  spite  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  really  lasted 
till  after  1799,  but  travelers  on  the  river  were  probably  in  less 
danger  of  surprise  in  earl}-  spring  than  when  the  foliage  was  in 
full  leaf  and  the  Indians  could  consequently  more  easily  conceal 
themselves. 

However  unpropitious  the  season  may  be,  there  are  always 
occasional  sunshiny  days  in  the  early  spring  in  Ohio.  Though 
the  woods  in  1796  were  wet  from  recent  showers,  the  rain  seems 
to  have  been  o\er  before  the  pirogue  began  its  voyage,  and  no 
doubt  part  of  the  time  the  weather  was  mild  and  bright.  The 
banks  of  the  Miami  were  thickly  wooded,  and  vocal  with  the 
songs  of  countless  varieties  of  birds.  The  flowers  and  the  foliage 
of  the  trees  were  just  beginning  to  unfold,  and  the  ground  was 
covered  with  grass  fresh  with  the  greenness  of  spring.  For  miles 
on  either  sideof  the  Miami  extended  a  fertile  and  beautiful  countrv. 


THE    SETTJCEMENT  23 

At  the  close  of  each  day  the  boat  was  tied  to  a  tree  on  the 
shore,  and  the  emigrants  landed  and  camped  for  the  night 
around  the  big  fire  by  which  they  cooked  their  appetizing  sup- 
per of  game,  and  fish,  and  the  eggs  of  wild  fowls,  for  which  the 
hunger  of  travelers  was  a  piquant  and  sufficient  sauce.  Meat 
was  fastened  on  a  sharp  stick,  stuck  in  the  ground  before  the  fire, 
and  frequently  turned.  Dough  for  wheat  bread  was  sometimes 
wound  round  a  stick  and  baked  in  the  same  way.  Corn-bread 
was  baked  under  the  hot  ashes.  "Sweeter  roast  meat,"  exclaims 
an  enthusiastic  pioneer  writer,  "than  such  as  is  prepared  in  this 
manner,  no  epicure  of  Europe  ever  tasted."  "Scarce  any  one 
who  has  not  tried  it  can  imagine  the  sweetness  and  gusto  of  such 
a  meal,  in  such  a  place,  at  such  a  time." 

In  the  pirogue  came  Samuel  Thompson  and  his  wife,  Catherine ; 
their  children,  Sarah,  two  years  old,  Martha,  three  months  old, 
and  Mrs.  Thompson's  son,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  then  about 
twentj'-five,  and  her  daughter,  Mary  Van  Cleve,  nine  years 
of  age  ;  the  widow  McClure  and  her  sons  and  daughters,  James, 
John,  Thomas,  Kate,  and  Ann,  and  William  Gahagan,  a  3-oung 
Irishman.  The  passage  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton  occupied  ten 
days.  Mrs.  Thompson  was  the  first  to  step  ashore.  Two  small 
camps  of  Indians  were  here  when  the  pirogue  touched  the  ]\Iiami 
bank,  but  they  proved  friendly  and  were  persuaded  to  leave  in  a 
day  or  two.  The  pirogue  landed  at  the  head  of  St.  Clair  Street 
April  I,  1796.     The  Thompson  party  was  the  first  to  arrive. 

Samuel  Thompson  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  removed 
to  Cincinnati  soon  after  its  settlement.  He  married  the  widow 
of  John  Van  Cleve.  Mr.  Thompson  was  drowned  in  Mad  River 
in  1817,  and  Mrs.  Thompson  died  at  Dayton,  August  6,  1837. 
William  Gahagan  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  but  of  Irish 
parentage.  He  was  a  soldier  in  Wayne'.s  legion,  and  came  west 
in  1793,  serving  with  the  army  till  the  peace  of  1795.  Benjamin 
Van  Cleve  and  he  were  friends  and  comrades.  He  was  one  of  the 
party  which  surveyed  the  site  of  Dayton.  In  1804  or  1805  he 
removed  to  a  tract  of  land  south  of  Troy,  called  Gahagan's 
Prairie,  which  he  owned.  Here  his  wife  died  and  he  married 
Mrs.  Tennery.  He  died  about  1845  in  Troy.  The  McClures  soon 
removed  to  Miami  County.  Little  is  known  of  Solomon  Goss, 
Thomas  Davis,  William  Chenoweth,  James  Morris,  and  Daniel 
Ferrell.  Abraham  Glassmire  was  a  German  and  unmarried.  He 
was  a  very  useful  member  of  the  little  community,  making  looms 


24  EARLY  DAYTON 

and  showing  much  ingenuity  in  contriving  conveniences  not  eas- 
ily obtained  by  pioneer  housekeepers.  John  Dorough  was  the 
owner  of  a  mill  on  Mad  River,  afterwards  known  as  Kneisley's 
Mill.  William  Newcom,  j-ounger  brother  of  George,  was  born 
about  1776.  He  married  Charlotte  Nolan,  and  had  one  son,  Robert. 
William  Newcom  died  at  Dayton  from  the  effects  of  hardships  and 
exposure  during  the  War  of  181 2,  in  which  he  served  as  a  soldier. 
Biographiesof  other  pioneers  will  be  given  later  on  in  our  history. 

We  can  easily  imagine  the  loneliness  and  dreariness  of  the 
uninhabited  wilderness  which  confronted  the  homeless  pioneer 
families  as  they  arrived  by  water  or  land  at  Dayton.  "The 
unbroken  forest  was  all  that  welcomed  the  Thompson  party,  and 
the  awful  stillness  of  night  had  no  refrain  but  the  howling  of  the 
wolf  and  the  wailing  of  the  whippoorwill."  The  spring  was 
late  and  cold,  but  though  at  first  the  landscape  looked  bare  and 
desolate,  before  many  days  the  air  was  sweet  with  the  blossoms 
of  the  wild  grape,  plum,  cherry,  and  crab-apple,  and  the  woods 
beautiful  with  the  contrasting  red  and  white  of  the  dogwood  and 
redbud  or  of  elder  and  wild  rose,  and  the  fresh  green  of  young 
leaves.  The  woods  were  full  of  wild  fruits,  flowers,  and  nut- 
bearing  trees  and  bushes. 

As  a  temporar}^  protection  against  the  weather  the  pioneers,  on 
their  arrival,  built,  with  the  lumber  of  which  the  pirogue  was 
made,  against  a  log  or  bank  three-sided  huts  or  shanties,  roofed 
with  skm  or  bark,  and  open  towards  the  fire,  which  was  made 
outside.  Then  they  began  at  once  to  fell  timber  and  build  log 
cabins,  containing  one  room  and  a  loft.  After  or  before  the 
cabin  was  built,  the  trees  for  some  distance  around  were  girdled 
and  left  to  die  a  slow  death,  as  the}-  interfered  with  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  and  also  concealed  lurking  Indians.  Then  a  few 
acres  were  grubbed  for  a  corn  and  potato  patch. 

Isolated  from  other  settlements  by  miles  of  unbroken  forests, 
the  only  road  a  trail  marked  by  blazed  trees  or  a  narrow  bridle 
path,  with  treacherous  Indians  and  wild  beasts  prowling 
through  the  tangled  undergrowth  on  either  side,  the  inhabitants 
of  frontier  places  like  Dayton  were  dependent  on  each  other 
for  society  and  for  assistance  in  sickness  and  work.  They 
shared  everything.  The  latchstring  was  always  out.  Hildreth 
says  of  iMarietta  that  the  various  households  in  the  little 
community  were  like  the  nearly  related  branches  of  one  family, 
and  probably  this  was  true  of  the  log-cabin  hamlet  of  Dayton. 


THE   SETTLEMENT  25 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  arrival  of  the  pioneers,  the  whole 
of  Monument  Avenue  was  cleared  of  brush  and  trees.  But  with 
this  exception,  a  few  farms,  and  the  wagon-road  cut  in  the 
middle  of  Main  Street  and  running  south  to  Franklin,  Fort 
Hamilton,  and  Cincinnati,  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
Miami  was  for  many  miles  unbroken  forest  or  a  thicket  of  hazel 
bushes  and  wild  fruit-trees.  Pioneers  could,  in  the  summer, 
step  out  of  their  back  doors  into  a  boundless  wild  park  or 
garden.  Delicious  perfumes,  sweet  as  attar  of  roses, — delicate, 
pungent,  aromatic, — and  countless  flowers,  pink,  white,  purple, 
scarlet,  blue,  and  blending  with  every  shade  of  yellow  and 
green,  delighted  the  senses.  To  be  sure,  mud,  snakes,  stinging 
insects,  thorns,  burrs,  and  poisonous  vines  detracted  from  the 
pleasure  of  their  strolls.  Innumerable  garter-snakes  were  to  be 
seen,  and  rattlesnakes  were  often  found. 

A  hazelnut  thicket  covered  a  good  deal  of  the  town  plat,  and 
is  often  mentioned  in  the  reminiscences  of  first  settlers.  Dr. 
Drake,  a  noted  Cincinnatian,  writing  of  Dr.  Elliott,  an  ex-army 
surgeon  and  ancestor  of  some  of  our  prominent  Daytonians, 
says,  "In  the  summer  of  1804  I  vSaw  him  in  Dayton,  a  highly 
accomplished  gentleman  in  a  purple  silk  coat,  which  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  surrounding  thickets  of  brush  and  high 
bushes."  Such  elegant  raiment,  though  common  in  cities,  was 
not  often  seen  in  frontier  villages.  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  in  his 
interesting  manuscript  autobiography,  describes  himself  on  June 
26,  1794,  as  dressed  in  a  hunting-frock,  breechcloth,  and  leggings, 
with  a  knife  eighteen  inches  long  hanging  at  his  side,  a  gun  in 
one  hand,  and  a  tomahawk  in  the  other.  And  this  costume,  in  a 
modified  form,  was  usual.     A  coonskin  cap  was  added  in  winter. 

John  W.  Van  Cleve,  who  had  seen  his  native  place  change 
from  a  wilderness  to  a  thriving  town,  gives  this  description  of 
Dayton  in  1800- 1805  :  "While  the  inhabitants  all  lived  on 
the  river  bank,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  strangers,  on 
coming  into  the  place,  after  threading  their  way  through  the 
brush  until  they  had  passed  through  the  whole  town  plat  from 
one  extremity  -to  the  other,  and  arrived  at  the  first  few  of  the 
cabins  that  constituted  the  settlement,  to  inquire  how  far  it  was 
to  Dayton.  They  were,  of  course,  informed  that  the3'  had  just 
passed  through  it,  and  arrived  in  the  .suburbs."  A  little  later 
thej^  would  have  found  a  log  cabin  occupied  by  John  Welsh,  a 
substantial  farmer,  at  what  is  now  the  southeast  corner  of  ]\Iain 


26  .  EARLY  DAYTON 

and  Fifth  streets,  and  inquiring  of  him  the  distance  to  Dayton, 
would  have  been  directed  to  Newconi's  Tavern,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  down  the  road.  Persons  still  living,  and  not  aged, 
remember,  when  driving  the  cows  home  from  the  prairies  east 
of  St.  Clair  and  south  of  First  Street, — where  both  pasturage  and 
water  from  several  ponds  were  abundant, — lingering  in  the  public 
square  (now  Cooper  Park)  to  fill  their  pockets  with  hazelnuts. 
The  ponds  were  filled  so  long  ago  that  many  never  heard  of 
them.  This  is  also  true  of  "the  ravine  that  ran  from  the  head 
of  Mill  Street  down  the  present  course  of  the  canal  to  the  river 
below  the  foot  of  Ludlow  Street,  and  of  another  wide  ravine  that 
extended  from  the  levee  at  the  head  of  Jefferson  Street  across  to 
Cooper  Park,  connecting  with  the  ravine  running  south."  A 
gulh'  five  or  six  feet  deep,  beginning  at  the  corner  of  Wilkinson 
and  First  streets,  crossing  INIain  at  Third  Street,  and  ending  at 
the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Brown  streets,  was  not  wholh'  filled  up 
till  Mr.  J.  D.  Piatt  built  his  house  on  the  northwest  comer  of 
First  and  Wilkinson  streets. 

In  1798  the  home  missionar}',  Rev.  John  Kobler,  visited  Day- 
ton, which  he  describes  as  a  little  village  of  that  name,  on  the 
bank  of  the  Big  INIiami,  containing  a  few  log  houses  and  eight 
or  ten  families.  When  threatened  with  illness,  he  hastened 
southward,  for  "to  lie  sick  at  any  of  the  houses  in  these  parts 
would  be  choosing  death,  as  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  well 
man  to  get  food  or  sustenance."  Yet,  as  is  usual  in  regions 
where  ver}'  rich  soil  is  newly  cultivated,  the  pioneers  all  had 
ague.  Fortunatel}',  what  was  chill  day  to  one-half  the  popula- 
tion was  generall)'  w^ell  day  to  the  other  half.  One  Sunday 
morning,  when  a  little  knot  of  worshipers  were  assembled,  as  a 
pioneer  lady  used  to  relate,  a  tall,  bent,  gaunt,  sallow-faced  man, 
who  was  enjo3'ing  his  "well  day,"  slowly  and  feebl}^  crept  up 
the  aisle.  A  little  child,  after  one  glance  at  this  walking  skele- 
ton, exclaimed  in  terror,  "O  mother,  is  that  death?"  and  buried 
his  head  in  her  lap.  He  had  taken  literalh-  the  saying  that  an 
invalid  "looked  like  death."  January  i,  1799,  Mr.  Kobler 
preached  at  Dayton  to  a  mixed  company  of  traders  from  Detroit, 
and  some  Indians,  French,  and  English,  from  the  appropriate 
text,  "In  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  right- 
eousness, is  accepted  with  him."  He  spoke  so  forcibly  that 
"many  of  them  looked  wild  and  stood  aghast,  as  if  they 
would  take  to  their  heels." 


the;  settlement  27 

When  in  the  fall  of  1795  pioneers,  or  tlieir  representatives,  vis- 
ited the  "mouth  of  Mad  River"  to  select  homes,  they  drew  both 
town  and  outlots,  and  the  latter  farms  some  of  them  cultivated. 
They  also  had,  after  a  time,  gardens  round  their  cabins.  "West 
of  Wilkinson  Street,"  as  Curwen,  the  delightful  first  historian  of 
Dayton,  says,  "was  a  huge  corn-field  within  one  common  enclo- 
sure, where,  as  in  that  golden  age  of  the  world  when  men  lodged 
under  trees  and  fed  upon  acorns,  every  man  was  at  liberty  to  till 
as  much  of  the  soil  as  he  chose."  Further,  small  prairies 
between  the  large  inclosure  and  the  cabins  served  as  a  common 
vegetable  garden. 

It  is  a  disputed  point  whether  Mary  Van  Cleve,  the  sister  of 
Benjamin,  or  her  mother  was  the  first  to  leap  from  the  boat 
which  conveyed  the  party  of  travelers  in  search  of  a  new  home 
in  a  new  country — the  Dayton  of  a  hundred  years  ago.  Trans- 
planted at  the  age  of  nine,  she  grew  up  with  the  village,  and 
spent  a  long  life  here.  She  was  well  known  by  her  two  marriages 
as  Mrs.  Swaynie  and  Mrs.  ]McClean.  Some  of  her  early  experi- 
ences were  very  thrilling.  She  had  reason  to  regard  Indians 
with  horror.  Her  father,  John  Van  Cleve,  while  cultivating  his 
farm  near  Cincinnati,  was  killed  in  1791  by  a  "naked  Indian, 
who  sprang  upon  him,  plunged  a  knife  into  his  heart,  took  a 
small  scalp  off,  and  ran."  A  party  of  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Cleve 
pursued  him  and  his  band,  and  Mr.  Thompson,  afterward  Mary 
Van  Cleve's  stepfather,  overtook  one  of  the  Indians  and  cut  off 
his  hand.  As  a  consequence,  Mr.  Thompson  incurred  the 
revengeful  spite  of  all  the  savages,  but  hoped  after  his  removal 
to  Dayton  to  be  rid  of  them.  There  came  a  time,  however,  when 
this  roving  band  also  found  their  way  to  the  frontier  village. 
Late  one  dark  summer  evening,  having  filled  themselves  with 
fire-water,  the}^  surrounded  the  Thompson  and  Van  Cleve 
cabin  on  Monument  Avenue,  midway  between  St.  Clair  and 
Jefferson  streets,  and  with  fierce  yells  demanded  admission.  The 
family  were  alone,  and,  realizing  their  great  peril,  they  took 
Mary,  a  brave  little  girl  of  twelve,  from  her  bed,  hastily  diessed 
her,  lifted  a  part  of  the  puncheon  floor,  and  directed  her  to  watch 
her  opportunity  to  creep  through  the  small  aperture  to  the 
ground,  above  which  the  cabin  was  raised  a  little,  and  run  to 
Newcom's  Tavern  for  help.  Every  anecdote  of  this  period  is  in 
some  way  connected  with  our  only  historical  relic.  Her  descrip- 
tion of  her  terrified  run   through  the  pathless  brush  and  hazel 


28 


EARLY   DAYTON 


patches,  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks,  the  noise  of  the  dread- 
ful warvvhoops  of  the  Indians  in  her  ears,  her  flesh  and  clothes 
torn  with  briars,  her  bare  feet  splashing  through  the  water,  and 
slipping  and  stumbling  over  the  mossy  stones  at  the  bottom  of 
the  gully  which  then  ran  from  Second  Street,  by  the  park,  back 
of  the  Monument  Avenue  cabins  to  Jefferson  Street  near  the  river 
bank,  was  very  graphic.  No  wonder  that  in  telling  the  story  she 
often  said,  "Iran  a  mile  before  I  reached  Newcom's  Tavern." 
Yet  the  distance  was  not  quite  two  of  our  present  squares.  A 
number  of  men  were  at  the  tavern,  wondering  what  the  howling 
and  shrieks  they  heard  from  the  eastward  could  mean.  They  all 
returned  with  her,  one  of  the  men  carrying  her  home  in  his  arms. 
By  their  assistance  the  Indians  were  routed,  and  nothing  serious 
resulted  from  the  attack. 

Mary  Van  Cleve  was  married  in  1804  to  John  INIcClean,  by 
whom  she  liad  seven  children.  Two  daughters  live  in  Dayton  — 
Mrs.  Sarah  J.  McC.  vSwaynie  and  Mrs.  E.  S.  Dow.  She  married, 
second,  in  1826  Robert  Swaynie.  They  had  no  children.  Mrs. 
Swaynie  died  several  j-ears  ago. 


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CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  SETTLERS 

Daniel  C.  Cooper— Newcom's  Tavern  — Cooper  Park  — Mr.  Cooper  Becomes 
Titular  Proprietor  of  the  Town  — His  Imi^rovenients  and  Liberality  — 
Indians  Frequent  Visitors  — Playing  Marbles  at  Midnight— Robert  Edgar 
—  First  Store  in  Dayton  — Henry  Brown  — First  Flatboat  — Furniture  of 
the  Nine  Cabins  Constituting  Dayton— Food — Game  — Hogs  Introduced 
—Fish  — Blockhouses  for  Defense  Against  Indians  Built  at  Dayton  — First 
School  in  Dayton  — Benjamin  Van  Cleve's  Autobiography— Early  Life  of 
Van  Cleve — Battle  of  Monmouth — Wagon  Journey  of  the  Van  Cleves 
Across  the  Mountains  — Murder  of  John  Van  Cleve  at  Cincinnati  by 
Indians  —  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  Supports  his  Father's  Family — Self-Edu- 
cated—Employed in  Quartermaster's  Department  of  Western  Anny  — 
St.  Clair's  Defeat— Employed  in  Flatboating  by  Army  Contractors— In 
Charge  of  Army  Horses  and  Cattle  — Sent  Express  to  Philadelphia  by 
Quartermaster's  Department — Sent  by  General  Knox  from  Philadelphia 
to  Conduct  Pair  of  Horses  to  Indian  Chief  Brant  — Quarrel  with  General 
Knox  — Meets  Brant  in  New  York  — Studious  Life  After  Return  to  Phila- 
delphia—  Sent  West  with  Dispatches  to  General  Wayne — Journey  by 
Boat  from  Wheeling,  Accompanied  by  Officers  and  Recruits — Cheated  Out 
of  His  Pay  — Flatboating  to  Kentucky  — Sutler  at  Fort  Greenville— Sent 
by  Army  Contractor  to  Fort  Massac  with  Two  Boats  Loaded  with  Pro- 
visions— Adventure  at  Fort  Massac  with  Major,  Called  "King,"  Doyle 
— Returning,  Visits  Red  Banks,  a  Resort  of  Thieves  and  Cutthroats — 
Drives  Cattle  to  Greenville,  Fort  Wayne,  and  Fort  Washington  — Accom- 
panies Captain  Dunlap  to  Make  the  Survey  of  the  Dayton  Settlement — 
Adventures  as  a  Surveyor  — Keeps  Field-Notes  During  Rain  on  Blocks  of 
Wood— Settles  in  Dayton— Surveying,  Writing,  and  Farming  — Trials. 

Now  THAT  the  approach  of  the  Dayton  Centennial  is  exciting 
a  special  interest  in  the  settlers  and  founders  of  the  town,  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  Daniel  C.  Cooper  is  the  pioneer  who 
should  be  made  most  prominent  and  given  the  highest  honors  at 
our  celebration.  He  was  born  in  Morris  Count}-,  New  Jersey,  in 
1773.  About  1S03  he  married  Mrs.  Sophia  Greene  Burnet,  of 
Dayton.  From  the  time  that  a  settlement  here  was  first  planned 
by  St.  Clair,  Wilkinson,  Dayton,  and  Ludlow,  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  project,  and  inclined,  it  is  probable,  to  make  the  new 
town  his  home.  He  accompanied  the  sur\'e3dng  parties  led  by 
Colonel  Israel  Ludlow  through  the  ]\Iiami  Valley  in  1794  and 


30  EARLY  DAYTON 

1795,  and  in  September,  1795,  by  direction  of  the  proprietors, 
marked  out  and  cut  through  the  brush  from  Fort  Hamilton  to 
the  mouth  of  INIad  River  the  wagon-road  by  which  the  pioneers 
ended  their  journey.  That  fall  and  winter  he  located  one 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  and  near  Dayton.  He  settled  here 
permanently  in  the  summer  of  1796,  building  a  cabin  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  JMonument  Avenue  and  Jefferson  Street.  In 
1798  he  moved  onto  the  farm,  south  of  Dayton,  afterwards  the 
home  of  Colonel  Patterson  and  General  Brown,  who  distinguished 
himself  in  the  War  of  181 2,  and  was  afterwards  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  United  States  Army.  He  kept  bachelor's  hall  in  his 
Monument  Avenue  cabin  for  a  time. 

It  would  have  been  a  disgrace  not  to  have  preserved  Newcom's 
Tavern,  which,  when  built  in  1799,  was  the  pride  of  all  this 
region  on  account  of  its  superiority  to  any  other  house  north 
of  Hamilton.  We  know  that  round  it  cluster  nearly  all  the  most 
interesting  historical  associations  of  the  earliest  period  of  the 
history  of  Dayton,  and  that  it  was  the  first  tavern,  store,  church, 
court-house,  and  jail  of  the  town  or  county.  There  is  great 
propriety  in  naming  the  little  pioneer  landing  for  the  Van 
Cleves.  But  it  is  also  eminenth'  proper  that  the  square  in 
which  the  library  building  stands  shovild  be  called  Cooper  Park, 
for  the  generous,  public-spirited  man  who  gave  it  and  other 
valuable  lots  to  the  town.  Our  citizens  seem  not  to  know,  or 
to  have  forgotten,  that  several  years  ago  the  City  Council  voted 
to  name  this  square  Cooper  Park,  so  that  it  is  improper,  whether 
law,  gratitude,  or  sentiment  is  concerned,  to  call  it  Library  Park. 
Cooper  Park  let  it  be  henceforth  and  forever. 

In  1801  the  original  proprietors  of  Dayton  became  discouraged 
and  Mr.  Cooper  became  titular  proprietor  of  the  town  by  the 
purchase  of  preemption  rights,  agreement  w'ith  settlers,  and 
friendly  Congressional  legislation.  He  showed  his  intelligence 
and  breadth  of  view  bj'  the  size  of  lots  and  the  width  of  streets 
and  sidewalks  on  his  new  plat  of  the  town,  and  by  his  liberal 
donations  of  lots  and  money  for  schools,  churches,  a  graveyard, 
market -house,  and  for  county  buildings,  and  to  desirable  settlers 
whom  he  induced  to  come  here.  He  built  the  only  mills  erected 
in  Dayton  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  history'  —  flour-,  full- 
ing-, and  sawmills,  and  one  for  grinding  corn.  For  several  years 
at  different  periods  he  served  as  justice  of  the  peace,  president  of 
Council,  and  member  of  both  branches  of  the  lyegislature,  and  in 


EARLY    SETTLERS  3I 

every  way  in  his  power  labored  for  the  prosperity  of  the  town, 
county,  and  State.  His  residence,  built  in  1805  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Ludlow  and  First  streets,  was  described  as  an  "  elegant 
mansion  of  hewn  logs,  lined  inside,  instead  of  plastering,  with 
cherry  boards."  To  his  enlarged  views,  foresight,  broad  plans, 
liberality,  integrity,  and  business  capacity  much  of  the  present 
advancement  of  our  city  is  due.  The  impress  of  his  wise,  mod- 
erate, prudent,  yet  progressive  spirit,  laid  upon  the  town  in  its 
infancy,  has  never  been  lost. 

Indians  were  frequent  visitors  to  the  village  of  Dayton,  and 
even  when  friendly  their  curiosity  and  thieving  habits  made 
them  unwelcome.  They  generally  came  to  exchange  skins,  maple 
sugar,  etc.,  for  articles  carried  about  the  country  by  "traders. 
Robert  Edgar,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  and  a  valuable  citizen, 
many  of  whose  descendants  live  in  Dayton,  built  himself  a 
lonely  home  on  the  little  prairie  now  the  site  of  the  Water 
Works.  Sometimes  at  night  Indians,  with  whom  he  must  have 
been  inconveniently  popular,  would  stop  in  front  of  his  cabin 
and  call,  " Lobit !  Lobit ! "  (Indian  for  Robert)  till  he  awoke  and 
admitted  them.  They  came  for  amusement,  and  were  not  satisfied 
till  the3^  had  persuaded  their  host  to  get  down  on  the  floor  and 
play  marbles  with  them.  When  they  had  enjoyed  the  game 
to  their  hearts'  content,  they  departed  in  great  good  humor, 
and  their  relieved  and  weary  entertainer  went  back  to  bed.  His 
associations  with  the  Indians  were  not  all  of  a  laughable  charac- 
ter. In  1792,  at  Wheeling,  his  father  was,  on  Good  Friday 
evening,  attacked,  killed,  and  scalped  by  nine  Indians,  while  on 
the  way  to  warn  a  neighbor  of  their  approach. 

Robert  Edgar  first  visited  Dayton  in  1795  as  one  of  the  survey- 
ing party  led  by  Mr.  Cooper,  and  settled  here  in  1796.  Though 
a  farmer,  he  was  also  a  good  mechanic,  and  built  and  ran  mills 
for  Mr.  Cooper  at  Dayton,  and  for  Mr.  Robinson  upon  Mad  River. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812  in  one  of  the  companies  of 
mounted  rangers  from  this  county,  and  his  sword  is  now  in 
possession  of  his  son,  John  F.  Edgar.  Robert  Edgar  was  born 
in  Staunton,  Virginia,  in  1770,  and  emigrated  to  Ohio  before 
1795.  At  Cincinnati,  September  27,  1798,  he  married  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Kirkwood.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edgar  had  a  large  family,  but 
only  five  lived  past  childhood.  Jane  Allen,  born  November  24, 
1800,  married  Augustus  George,  December  4,  181 7,  and  died  in 
1824 ;  descendants  in  Dayton,  the  children  of  the  late  George 


32  EAKI.V    DAVTOX 

H.  Phillips.  Robert  A.,  born  October  lo,  1803,  married  Catherine 
Iddings;  died  in  1833.  Samuel  D.,  born  March  26,  1806,  married 
INIinerva  A.  Jones,  August  5,  1S45  ;  died  October  i,  1874.  He  has 
a  number  of  grandchildren,  the  children  of  two  daughters  and  a 
son.  Mar}',  born  April  8,  181 1,  married,  May  10,  183 1,  Stephen 
Johnston  ;  died  July  25,  1849.  John  F.,  bom  October  29,  1814, 
alone  survives.  He  married,  April  20,  1843,  Effie  A.  Rogers. 
He  has  three  daughters — Jeanne,  Isabel,  and  Elizabeth  Edgar. 

In  the  fall  of  1800  the  first  store  in  Dayton  was  opened  in  a 
room  of  the  second  stor}-  of  Newcom's  Tavern  bj-  a  Mr. 
iSIcDougal  from  Detroit.  Though  this  store  was  a  great  con- 
venience to  the  villagers  and  the  country  for  forty  miles  around, 
jNIcDougal's  chief  trade  was  with  Indians,  who  came  here  for 
that  purpose. 

In  1804  Henr}'  Brown,  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  our 
city,  built  on  Main  Street,  near  the  High  School,  a  frame  build- 
ino-  for  a  store — the  first  house  erected  here  specially  for  business 
purposes.  Since  1795  he  had  been  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade, 
having  stores  at  Fort  Hamilton  and  Fort  Laramie,  and,  as 
stated,  in  1804  at  Dayton,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Sunderland. 
Three  generations  of  his  descendants  have  been  well  known  in 
our  city.  The  agents  of  his  firm  were  camped  on  all  the  streams 
for  many  miles  in  everj'  direction  from  Dayton,  wherever  Indians 
could  be  reached.  Traders,  accompanied  by  packhorses  laden 
with  goods,  took  long,  lonely,  dangerous  journeys  through  the 
wilderness,  lasting  several  months,  to  Indian  villages.  Some  of 
their  goods  were  shipped  in  flatboats  or  pirogues  down  the  rivers 
to  Cincinnati  and  New  Orleans. 

Henry  Brown  was  born  near  Lexington,  Virginia,  about  1770. 
Ill  1793  he  came  to  the  Northwest  Territor}^  as  military  secretary 
for  Colonel  Preston,  who  was  in  command  of  a  regiment  in 
Wavne's  army.  Februar}-  19,  181 1,  he  married  Katherine, 
dau^'-hter  of  Colonel  Robert  Patterson.  Mr.  Brown  died  in  1825. 
ISIr.  and  ]Mrs.  Brown  had  three  children  :  R.  P.  Brown,  born 
December  6,  181 1,  married  Sarah  Gallowa}-,  October  31,  1837; 
died  May  4,  1879.  Henry  L.  Brown,  born  December  3,  1814, 
married  Sarah  Belle  Browning,  February  7,  1837  ;  died  November 
25,  1878.  Eliza  J.  Brown,  born  in  Dayton,  October  30,  1816, 
married  Charles  Anderson,  September  16,  1835.  R.  P.  and  Henry 
L.  Brown  were  men  of  the  finest  character,  influential  in  many 
directions,  and  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  their  fellow-citizens. 


EARLY    SETTLERS  33 

The  first  flatboat  that  left  Daj-ton  was  owned  by  David  Lowry. 
It  started  on  the  two  months'  trip  to  New  Orleans  during  the 
spring  freshet  of  1799,  and  was  loaded  with  grain,  pelts,  and  500 
venison  hams. 

The  nine  cabins  which  in  1799  constituted  Dayton,  contained 
only  a  few  home-made  benches,  stools,  beds,  tables,  and  cup- 
boards, often  of  buckeye  and  beechwood.  Doddridge  in  his 
"Notes"  says  that  a  pioneer's  table  furniture  consisted  of 
"some  old  pewter  dishes  and  plates  ;  the  rest,  wooden  bowls 
or  trenchers,  or  gourds,  and  hard-shelled  squashes.  A  few 
pewter  spoons,  much  battered  about  the  edges,  were  to  be 
seen  on  some  tables.  The  rest  were  made  of  horn.  If  knives 
were  scarce,  the  deficiency  was  made  up  by  the  scalping-knives, 
which  were  carried  in  sheaths  suspended  from  the  belt  of  the 
hunting-shirt."  The  cabin  was  warmed  and  lighted  wholly  by 
the  huge  open  hickory  fire,  over  which,  in  pots  suspended  from 
cranes  or  on  the  coals  or  in  the  ashes,  the  cooking  was  done.  At 
an  early  date  the  pioneers  raised  flax,  hemp,  and  wool,  and  the 
women  spun,  wove,  and  dyed,  with  colors  made  from  walnut 
and  butternut  hulls  or  wild  roots,  the  fabrics  from  which  they 
made  the  clothes  of  the  family.  Every  cabin  had  its  spinning- 
wheel  and  loom,  the  latter  built  by  the  ingenious  pioneer  weaver, 
Abraham  Glassmire.  One  wonders  whether  pioneer  women 
were  reall}'  harder  worked  than  their  granddaughters.  Thej' 
had  little  to  occupy  or  amuse  them  outside  their  own  homes  — 
no  benevolent  societies,  clubs,  receptions,  calls,  concerts,  or 
lectures,  and  only  occasional  church  services.  They  had  onlj'' 
one  or  two  rooms  to  keep  in  order,  and  no  pictures,  books,  cur- 
tains, carpets,  rugs,  table-  and  bed-linen,  bric-a-brac,  china,  glass, 
or  silver  to  take  care  of.  Their  wardrobes  were  scanty,  and  the 
weekly  washing  must  have  been  small.  Wheat  flour  could  not 
be  obtained ;  corn  hoe-cake,  ash-cake,  johnny-cake,  dodgers, 
pone,  hominy,  and  mush  and  milk  were  principal  articles  of 
diet.  Meal  was  slowl}^  and  laboriousl}'  ground  in  handmills. 
Wild  plums,  crab-apples,  blackberries  and  strawberries,  sweet- 
ened with  maple  sugar,  furnished  jellies  and  preserves.  There 
was  an  abundance  of  wild  honey,  and  of  wild  goose  and  turkey 
and  duck  eggs.  They  often  tired  of  venison,  bears'  meat,  rabbits, 
squirrels,  wild  turkeys,  ducks,  geese,  quail,  and  pheasants,  and 
longed  for  pork.  There  was  great  rejoicing,  no  doubt,  when,  in 
1799,   Mr.  Cooper  introduced  hogs.     In   1800  sheep  were  first 


34  EARLY  DAYTON 

brought  here.  The  rivers  were  full  of  bass,  catfish,  pickerel, 
pike,  eels,  and  sunfish. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  saj'S  in  his  autobiographj^  that,  in  July 
and  August,  1799,  "the  Indians  were  counseling  and  evinced  an 
unfriendly  disposition.  The  British  traders  and  French  among 
them  had  made  them  dissatisfied  with  the  cession  of  their  lands 
and  with  the  boundaries,  and  blockhouses  were  built  at  Dayton 
and  all  through  the  country,  and  the  people  became  considerably 
alarmed."  The  'Dayton  blockhouse  stood  on  the  present  site  of 
the  soldiers'  monument,  and  was  built  of  round  logs,  with  a 
projecting  upper  story.  The  men  in  town  and  surrounding 
country  kept  strict  watch,  and  were  all  armed  and  ready  to  take 
refuge,  if  necessary,  with  their  families,  in  the  blockhouse.  But 
it  was  never  used  for  protection  against  Indians.  For  a  short 
time  it  was  the  village  church  and  school-house.  In  the  first 
story,  the  year  it  was  built,  the  Presbj'terians  held  their  Sunday 
services,  and  the  same  year  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  taught  there 
the  first  school  ever  opened  in  Dayton  —  another  reason  why  the 
park  which  the  High  School  overlooks  should  be  named  for  him. 
In  his  journal  for  1 799-1800,  he  says  :  "On  the  ist  of  September 
I  commenced  teaching  a  small  school.  I  had  reserved  time  to 
gather  my  corn,  and  kept  school  until  the  last  of  October."  He 
harvested  a  fine  crop  by  the  first  week  in  November.  Vacation 
lasted  part  of  December  ;  for,  after  harvest,  he  went  to  Cincinnati 
to  assist  the  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  first 
Territorial  Legislature.  He  was  well  suited  to  such  work.  He 
held  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  INIontgomery  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  from  1802  till  his  death  in  1821,  and  was  postmaster  from 
1804  to  1821,  being  the  first  to  hold  either  ofiice  in  Da3'ton. 

After  Mr.  Van  Cleve's  return  from  Cincinnati,  he  "kept  school 
about  three  months  longer."  It  is  said  that,  as  books  were 
difi&cult  to  procure,  he  taught  the  alphabet  and  spelling  from 
charts  prepared  by  himself.  The}'  were,  no  doubt,  beautifully 
written  and  colored,  for  his  penmanship  was  remarkable  for 
elegance  and  legibilit}^  and  his  diary  or  autobiography  is  illus- 
trated by  plans  and  maps  neatly  executed  in  India  ink  and  water 
colors.  He  was  a  skillful  surveyor  and  engineer,  and  like  those 
of  General  W.  C.  Schenck  (father  of  Admiral  and  General  R.  C. 
Schenck)  and  other  contemporaries  of  his  profession,  the  papers 
and  accounts  which  descendants  of  people  for  whom  he  did 
business  still  preserve  are  not  only  correct  in  form  and  substance, 


EARLY    SETTLERS  35 

but  beautiful  pieces  of  work,  and  often  ornamented  by  a  large 
and  artistic  monogram  of  the  employer. 

In  1801  Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  appointed  county  surveyor.  In 
1812  the  President  of  the  United  States  appointed  him  and  two 
other  commissioners  "to  explore,  survey,  and  mark  a  road  by 
the  most  eligible  course  from  the  foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  Miami 
of  lyake  Erie  to  the  western  line  of  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  and 
a  road  to  run  southwardly  from  Lower  Sandusky  to  the  boundary 
line  established  by  the  treaty  of  Greenville." 

Mr.  Van  Cleve's  autobiography  or  "Memoranda,"  as  he  styled 
it,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Dover,  widow  of  a 
grandson,  is  a  very  curious  and  valuable  book.  It  has  never  been 
printed  in  full.  This  sturdy  little  manuscript  volume,  written  in 
a  hand  as  graceful  and  legible  as  the  best  type,  and  bound  in 
strong,  square  leather  covers,  which,  like  the  heavy  paper 
within,  are  dark  with  age,  has,  though  studied  by  several  his- 
torians, and  read  by  many  others,  been  so  carefully  guarded  by 
the  appreciative  descendants  of  the  writer  that  time  and  use 
have  injured  it  very  little. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve's  life  after  1796  is  so  much  a  part  of  the  history 
of  Dayton  that  it  seems  more  appropriate  and  interesting  to 
describe  the  incidents  that  occurred  during  that  period  under  the 
proper  dates  in  our  story,  than  to  give  them  in  a  continuous 
biography.  His  childhood  and  youth,  while  not  spent  in 
Dayton,  were  filled  with  hardship  as  well  as  romantic  adven- 
ture of  a  kind  that  made  him  master  of  all  his  faculties,  and 
this  severe  discipline  developed  the  character  that  rendered  him 
one  of  the  most  useful  and  progressive  founders  and  citizens  of 
the  struggling  village  in  the  Mad  River  country.  Therefore,  a 
somewhat  detailed  account  of  his  early  years  will  be  both  inter- 
esting and  profitable.  He  is  worthy  of  being  held  up  as  an 
example  to  the  boys  in  our  public  schools.  Some  of  his  traits 
are  of  the  kind  that  appeal  most  strongly  to  boy  nature. 

In  his  Memoranda,  which  he  states  was  written  for  the  in- 
struction and  amusement  of  his  children,  Mr.  Van  Cleve  sets  down 
for  their  guidance  the  rules  by  which  he  regulated  his  own  valu- 
able life.  He  tells  them  that  he  made  it  a  point  to  be  polite  and 
obliging  to  all  with  whom  he  was  connected  in  business,  whether 
he  stood  to  them  in  the  relation  of  employer  or  emploj^ee.  And 
in  his  obituary  it  is  stated  that  he  "recommended  himself  to 
esteem  by  his  agreeable  manner  of  doing  business."    He  regarded 


36  EARLY  DAYTON 

justice,  honor,  and  integrity  avS  the  best  policy,  though  it  was 
not  this  inferior  motive  but  a  higher  one  that  led  him  to  pursue 
that  upright  and  public-spirited  career  which  won  the  respect 
and  admiration  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  a  religious  man 
and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  his  town  and  State,  and 
was  a  trustee  of  several  literary  institutions.  In  the  Memoranda 
he  dwells  upon  the  fact  that  he  always  had  a  place  for  everything 
and  a  set  time  for  the  performance,  of  each  duty,  and  he  exhorted 
his  children  above  all  to  form  similar  systematic,  accurate,  and 
methodical  habits. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  began  to  keep  a  diary  at  a  very  early  age, 
and  not  long  before  his  death  in  182 1  he  condensed  and  revised 
his  journals,  copying  them  into  the  volume  from  which  the 
material  for  his  biography  is  drawn.  His  Memoranda  contains, 
perhaps,  the  most  accurate  and  graphic  description  of  St.  Clair's 
defeat  that  has  been  written  ;  and  from  the  Memoranda  has  also 
been  obtained  the  only  reliable  account  of  the  settlement  of 
Dayton.  The  Memoranda,  supplemented  by  the  files  of  early 
newspapers  which  he  preserved,  consitutes  him  literally  the  his- 
torian of  Dayton  from  1795  to  1821. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve's  ancestors  came  to  Flatbush,  Long 
Island,  from  Amsterdam,  Holland,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  from  thence  removed  to  Staten  Island,  and  finally  settled  in 
New  Jersey.  He  was  born  February  24,  1773,  in  Monmouth 
County,  New  Jersey,  and  was  the  eldest  child  of  John  and  Cath- 
erine Benliam  Van  Cleve.  He  had  three  brothers  and  five  sisters. 
His  father  was  a  blacksmith. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve's  earliest  recollection  was  of  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth, on  the  28th  of  June,  1778.  Late  in  life  he  could  well  remem- 
ber the  confusion  of  women  and  children,  and  their  flight  to  the 
pine  swamps  just  before  the  engagement,  though  he  was  only 
five  years  old  at  the  time.  When  about  a  mile  from  home  the 
refugees  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  paused  to  consult  what 
course  to  pursue.  The  Monmoiith  men  went  in  search  of  the  Amer- 
ican army,  and  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  "  becoming  separated  from 
the  rest  of  his  family,  aimed,"  he  tells  us  in  the  Memoranda,  "to 
return  home."  When  within  a  short  distance  of  the  enemy,  the 
bugles  drove  the  child,  who  in  the  confusion  had  not  been  missed, 
back  to  the  place  where  his  relatives  were  collected.  The  refugees 
could  hear  the  firing  distinctly,  and  judge  from  the  sound  which 


EARLY    SETTLERS  37 

side  was  advancing  or  receding.  ' '  When  our  army  was  retreating, 
many  of  the  men  were  melted  to  tears  ;  when  it  was  advancing, 
there  was  every  demonstration  of  joy  and  exultation."  The 
next  day  John  Van  Cleve  and  his  brothers  "acted  as  guides  to 
separate  companies  of  Colonel  Morgan's  riflemen,  and  reconnoi- 
tered  the  British  right  flank,  took  a  number  of  prisoners,  and 
took  and  recaptured  a  great  deal  of  property." 

When,  on  the  retreat  of  the  British,  John  Van  Cleve  brought 
his  family  back  from  the  pine  swamps,  he  found  nothing  to 
mark  the  site  of  his  home  but  a  naked  and  blackened  chimney, 
stumps  of  apple  trees,  and  the  bodies  of  animals  killed  by  the 
British.  He  "had,"  his  son  says,  "neither  a  shelter  for  his 
family,  nor  bread  for  them,  nor  clothing  to  cover  them  excepting 
what  they  had  on.  He  saved  a  bed  and  a  looking-glass,  which 
we  carted  with  us.  A  yearling  heifer  had  escaped  the  enemy, 
and  a  sow,  with  a  back  broken  by  a  sword,  lived.  My  father's 
anvil  remained,  I  believe,  amidst  the  rubbish  and  ruins  of  the 
shop.  Several  wagons  and  an  artillery  carriage  were  burnt  in 
the  shop ;  the  pieces  of  artillery  had  been  thrown  into  a  pool  of 
muddy  water  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  were  not  found  by 
the  enemy."  The  Tories  committed  depredations  both  by  land 
and  by  sea  on  the  Monmouth  County  people,  and  for  this 
reason  the  militia  were  till  the  end  of  the  war  almost  constantly 
on  duty.  John  Van  Cleve  was  "from  home  on  this  service  a 
great  part  of  the  time,  and  he  was  in  some  skirmishes  with  the 
Tories  and  British.  He  was  also  under  General  Forman  at 
the  battle  of  Germantown." 

In  November,  17S5,  John  Van  Cleve  removed  with  his  family 
and  several  relatives  and  friends  from  Freehold,  New  Jersey,  to 
Pennsylvania.  The  party  traveled  with  three  wagons,  two  of 
which  contained  Van  Cleve's  blacksmith  tools,  provisions,  and 
household  furniture.  The  emigrants  had  an  uncomfortable  and 
■  fatiguing  journey  up  and  down  the  icy  or  snow3'  Alleghany 
Mountain  roads,  which,  "being  onl}^  opened  sufficient  for  wag- 
ons to  pass,  and  neither  dug  nor  leveled,  also  winding  in  both 
ascent  and  descent,"  there  w;as  constant  danger  of  upsetting. 
"To  undertake  the  crossing,"  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  wrote,  "with 
loaded  wagons  required  a  considerable  degree  of  resolution  and 
fortitude."  The  horses  were  soon  nearly  exhausted  from  the 
hard  pulling  through  the  deep  snow,  which  balled  in  their  feet. 
Sometimes  the  wagons  stuck  in  the  mud  or  broke  down.     The 


38  EARLY   DAYTON 

women  and  children  suffered  very  much  from  cold  and  exposure, 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve  writes  on  November  17  :  "  Tarried  to  repair 
our  wagons,  and  the  women  were  employed  in  baking  and  cook- 
ing." November  18  :  "Froze  considerable  last  night.  The  roads 
are  filled  with  ice.  Came  this  day  to  Mr.  IMcShay's  on  Sideling 
Hill.  The  house  was  so  crowded  with  travelers  that,  notwith- 
standing the  cold,  we  were  obliged  to  encamp  in  the  woods.  The 
horses  and  men  are  very  much  fatigued,  having  spent  near  half 
the  day  getting  up  this  hill,  which  is  steep  and  stony,  and  the 
road  winds  back  and  forth  to  gain  the  summit.  We  had  to  put 
six  horses  to  a  wagon  and  bring  one  up  at  a  time."  They 
reached  their  journej-'s  end  on  the  8th  of  December. 

The  greater  part  of  the  time  between  1786  and  1789  the  Van 
Cleves  spent  on  a  farm  near  Washington,  Pennsylvania.  In 
December,  1789,  the  family  emigrated  to  Cincinnati,  making  the 
journej'  bj-  water,  and  arriving  the  day  after  General  St.  Clair 
changed  the  name  of  the  town,  which  had  previously  been  called 
lyosantiville.  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  settled  on  land  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Licking  River,  belonging  to  Major  Leech,  who, 
wishing  to  open  a  farm  for  himself,  offered  a  hundred  acres  of 
unimproved  ground  for  each  ten-acre  field  cleared  by  a  settler, 
with  the  use  for  three  years  of  the  improved  land. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  hoped,  with  the  assistance  of  his  father's 
labor,  to  secure  at  least  one  hundred  acres,  but  the  latter' s  death 
prevented  the  fulfillment  of  their  expectations.  A  fortified 
station  was  built  on  Leech's  land,  and  four  families  and  four 
single  men  went  out  to  the  place  to  live.  The  Indians  were  very 
troublesome  and  daring  in  1791,  skulking  through  the  streets  of 
Cincinnati  and  the  gardens  near  Fort  Washington  at  night.  On 
the  2ist  of  May  they  fired  on  John  Van  Cleve  while  he  was  at 
work  in  his  field  near  the  village  and  captured  a  man  named 
Cutter,  who  was  standing  within  a  few  yards  of  him.  "The 
alarm  was  given  by  halloing  from  lot  to  lot,  until  it  reached 
town."  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  came  in  from  Leech's  Station  just 
as  the  news  of  the  attack  was  received  at  Cincinnati,  and  saw  the 
villagers  running  to  the  public  grounds.  He  followed  them,  and 
there  met  with  a  man  who  had  seen  the  Indians  firing  on  his 
father.  He  asked  if  any  would  go  to  the  rescue  with  him,  "and 
pushed  on  without  halting."  After  running  a  short  distance  the 
party  met  John  Van  Cleve.  "While  we  were  finding, the  trail  of 
the  Indians  on  their  retreat,"  Benjamin  writes,  "perhaps  forty 


EARLY  settle;rs  39 

persons  had  arrived,  most  of  whom  joined  in  the  pursuit ;  but  by 
the  time  we  gained  the  top  of  the  river  hills,  we  had  only  eight." 
They  kept  the  Indians  "on  the  full  run  till  dark,"  but  were  obliged 
to  return  to  Cincinnati  at  night  without  recapturing  Cutter.  A 
few  days  later,  on  the  ist  of  June,  John  Van  Cleve  was  again 
attacked  by  Indians  while  working  in  his  own  lot.  "A  naked 
Indian,"  Benjamin  says,  "sprang  upon  him;  my  father  was 
seen  to  throw  him,  but  at  this  time  the  Indian  was  plunging  his 
knife  into  his  heart.  He  took  a  small  scalp  off  and  ran.  The  men 
behind  came  up  immediately,  but  my  father  was  already  dead." 

One  of  John  Van  Cleve' s  daughters  was  married,  but  he  left 
four  younger  children,  who  were  not  old  enough  to  support 
themselves.  "I  immediately  resolved,"  Benjamin  Van  Cleve 
says,  "to  supply  the  place  of  father  to  them  to  the  utmost  of  my 
ability,  and  I  feel  a  consolation  in  having  fulfilled  my  duty 
towards  them  as  well  as  my  mother.  My  father  had  not  many 
debts  or  engagements  to  fulfill.  I  paid  some  debts  by  my  labor 
(all  that  he  owed)  as  a  day-laborer,  and  my  brother-in-law 
assisted  me  in  building  a  house  he  had  undertook,  and  received 
the  pay  for  my  mother."  "After  the  funeral  of  my  father,  I 
returned  and  planted  my  corn,  but  was  obliged  to  divide  my 
time  and  bestow  the  greater  part  at  Cincinnati  for  the  benefit  of 
the  family.  I  settled  my  father's  books,  fulfilled  his  engagements, 
and  sold  his  blacksmith's  tools  to  the  quartermaster-general." 

For  a  number  of  years  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  burdened  with 
the  support  of  his  mother  and  the  family,  and  had  a  hard  strug- 
gle with  poverty.  He  was  young  and  ignorant  of  the  world,  and 
felt  the  need  of  counsel.  Many  depended  on  him,  and  there  was 
no  one  to  whom  he  could  turn  for  help,  or  with  whom  he  could 
share  his  responsibilities.  "  Happy  he  who  has,  at  this  period  of 
life,"  he  wrote  years  afterwards,  at  a  date  when  his  own  carefully 
nurtured  son  had  recently  graduated  with  honor  from  Ohio  Uni- 
versity, "a  father  or  friend  whose  experience  will  afford  him  a 
chart ;  whose  kind  advice  will  serve  as  a  compass  to  direct  him." 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  all  his  life  a  lover  of  good  books  and 
good  men,  and  though  he  enjoyed  very  limited  educational 
advantages,  he  became  noted  for  intelligence,  information,  and 
elevation  of  character.  Vice  seems  to  have  had  but  slight  charm 
for  him  ;  but  no  doubt  the  thought  of  his  helpless  family  would 
have  restrained  one  of  his  affectionate  nature  and  spurred  him  to 
exert  himself  to  the  uttermost  had  he  been  tempted  to  fall  into 


40  EARLY  DAYTON 

idle  and  dissipated  habits.  He  was  obliged  to  seek  work  wher- 
ever he  could  find  it,  and  could  not  afford  to  be  nice  in  his  choice 
of  associates.  "Had  my  fortitude  and  resolution,"  he  says, 
"been  weaker,  they  might  have  been  overcome,  for  my  com- 
panions for  several  years  were  of  the  most  profane  and  dissipated, 
such  as  followers  of  the  army  and  mostly  discharged  soldiers." 

In  the  summer  of  1791  he  obtained  emplo3ment  in  the  quar- 
termaster's department,  and  on  the  8th  of  August  set  off  for 
Kentucky,  where  his  uncle,  Captain  Benham,  was  commissioned 
b3'  the  Government  to  buy  artillery  horses  for  St.  Clair's  army. 
Van  Cleve  received  the  purchased  horses  at  Lexington,  branded 
them,  and  pastured  them  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town.  In 
about  two  weeks  a  drove  was  collected  and  taken  to  Cincinnati, 
Captain  Benham  was  very  ill  on  their  return  from  Kentucky,  and 
his  nephew  was  obliged  to  do  all  his  writing,  keep  his  accounts, 
and  attend  to  his  other  business. 

On  the  3d  of  September  Benham  and  Van  Cleve  left  Fort 
Washington,  Cincinnati,  for  the  army,  with  three  or  four  bri- 
gades of  packhorses,  loaded  with  armorer's  and  artificer's  tools. 
The  armorers  were  armed  and  marched  with  the  brigades,  but 
would  have  proved  a  weak  escort  had  the  Indians  attacked 
them.  Benham's  party  overtook  the  troops  at  a  place  thirty  or 
forty  miles  bej-ond  Fort  Hamilton,  and  marched  with  them  to 
Fort  Jefferson,  which  was  not  completed.  At  the  end  of  five 
days  Benham  and  Van  Cleve  returned  with  six  brigades,  leaving 
five  at  Hamilton  and  taking  one  on  to  Fort  Washington.  They 
were  ordered  back  to  transport  provisions  from  Cincinnati  to 
the  army,  which  was  reduced  to  short  allowance,  the  failure  of 
Colonel  Duer,  the  contractor,  having  thrown  all  militar}'  arrange- 
ments into  confusion.  The  packhorsemen  returned  as  soon  as 
possible  with  their  loads,  and  overtook  the  arm}-  on  the  31st  of 
October  twenty-two  miles  beyond  Fort  Jefferson.  They  found 
poor  St.  Clair  so  ill  with  the  gout  as  to  be  carried  in  a  litter. 
The  Kentucky  militia  had  just  deserted  in  a  body,  and  the 
evening  of  the  day  that  Benham's  party  arrived  in  camp  the  first 
regiment  was  dispatched  to  bring  the  deserters  back,  and  also  to 
escort  in  provisions  that  were  then  on  the  way. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  had  been  entered  on  the  paj'-roll  of  the 
army  as  a  packhorseman,  at  fifteen  dollars  pay  per  month.  He 
worked  hard  to  earn  his  wages.  Each  brigade  of  packhorses 
drew  its  rations  separatel\\     As  he  kept  the  accounts  and  also 


EARI.Y   SETTLERS  41 

communicated  orders,  he  had  a  great  deal  of  writing  to  do.  In 
addition  to  his  ordinary  duties,  he  was  often  obliged  to  take  care 
of  his  own  and  his  uncle's  horses.  Sometimes  it  was  necessary 
to  carry  part  of  the  stores  or  provisions  lashed  on  the  back  of  the 
animal  he  was  accustomed  to  ride,  and  foot  it  himself  through 
the  mud  in  the  roughest  manner.  Captain  Benham  had  a  large 
marquee,  or  horseman's  tent,  which,  as  it  was  very  roomy,  he 
occasionally  asked  ofi&cers  to  share.  ' '  Having  sometimes  to  be 
in  the  company  of  officers  and  sometimes  in  the  mud,"  Van 
Cleve  was  induced  on  his  expeditions  to  the  army  to  take  all 
his  clothes  with  him,  and  they  made  a  heavy  and  unwieldy  pack. 

At  daybreak  on  the  2d  of  November,  while,  in  obedience  to 
orders,  packing  his  cumbersome  luggage  on  his  horse  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  return  to  Cincinnati,  he  heard  firing  and  was  soon 
witnessing  his  first  battle.  It  was  not  long  till  his  horse  was 
shot  down,  and  instead  of  lamenting  the  accident  he  was  glad 
of  it ;  for  he  now  felt  at  liberty  to  share  in  the  engagement, 
expecting  much  pleasure  from  the  turmoil  and  excitement  of 
the  battle,  which,  in  his  ignorance  of  the  condition  of  the  army 
and  of  the  uncertainties  of  Indian  warfare,  he  was  confident 
would  end  victoriously  for  our  troops.  In  a  few  moments 
he  provided  himself  with  a  gun  obtained  from  a  man  who 
was  wounded  in  the  arm,  began  firing,  and  till  the  retreat  was 
commenced  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight.  He  escaped  unhurt, 
though  he  lost  his  horse  and  all  his  clothes  ;  but  Captain  Benham 
and  Daniel  Bonham,  a  young  man  brought  up  by  Benham,  and 
whom  Van  Cleve  regarded  as  a  brother,  were  both  wounded. 

The  ground  was  soon  "literally  covered  with  dead  and  dying 
men,  and  the  commander  gave  orders  to  take  the  way,"  that  is, 
to  retreat.  Van  Cleve  joined  a  party  of  eight  or  nine  men  whom 
he  saw  start  on  a  run  a  little  to  the  left  of  where  he  was. 
When  they  had  gone  about  two  miles,  a  boy,  who  had  been 
thrown  or  fell  off  a  horse,  begged  Van  Cleve's  assistance,  and  he 
ran,  pulling  the  boy  along,  about  two  miles  farther,  until  both 
had  become  nearly  exhausted.  Seeing  two  horses  approaching, 
one  of  which  carried  three  men  and  the  other  two,  Van  Cleve 
managed  to  throw  the  lad  up  behind  the  two  men.  Though 
afterwards  thrown  off,  the  boy  escaped  and  got  safely  home. 
Van  Cleve  did  not  see  Bonham  on  the  retreat,  but  understood  that 
his  body  was  found  in  the  winter  on  the  battlefield  and  buried. 

Van  Cleve  was  taken  with  cramp  during  the  retreat  and  could 


42  EARLY   DAYTON 

hardly  walk,  "till  he  got  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  rear, 
where  the  Indians  were  tomahawking  the  old  and  wounded 
men."  Here  he  stopped  to  "tie  his  pocket-handkerchief  around 
a  man's  wounded  knee."  The  Indians  were  close  in  pursuit  at 
this  time  and  he  almost  despaired  of  escaping.  He  threw  off  his 
shoes  and  the  coolness  of  the  ground  revived  him.  "  I  again," 
he  says,  "began  a  trot,  and  recollect  that  when  a  bend  in  the 
road  offered,  and  I  got  before  half  a  dozen  persons,  I  thought  it 
would  occupy  some  time  for  the  enemy  to  massacre  them  before 
my  turn  would  come.  By  the  time  I  had  got  to  Stillwater,  about 
eleven  miles,  I  had  gained  the  center  of  the  flying  troops,  and, 
like  them,  came  to  a  walk.  I  fell  in  with  Lieutenant  Shaumberg, 
who  I  think  was  the  only  officer  of  artillery  that  got  away 
unhurt,  with  Corporal  Mott  and  a  woman  who  was  called 
'Redheaded  Nance.'  The  latter  two  were  crying.  Mott  was 
lamenting  the  loss  of  his  wife,  and  Nance  that  of  an  infant  child. 
Shaumberg  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  hung  on  Mott's  arm.  I 
carried  his  fusee  and  accouterments  and  led  Nance ;  and  in  this 
sociable  way  we  arrived  at  Fort  Jefferson  a  little  after  sunset." 

Benham  and  Van  Cleve  immediately  went  on  with  Colonel 
Drake  and  others,  who  were  ordered  forward  to  dispatch  pro- 
visions to  the  troops.  After  marching  a  few  miles  the  partj'  was 
so  overcome  with  fatigue  that  thej^  halted.  A  packhorseman 
"had  stolen  at  Fort  Jefferson  one  pocketful  of  flour  and  the  other 
full  of  beef."  Another  of  the  men  had  a  kettle.  Benjamin  Van 
Cleve  groped  about  in  the  dark  until  he  found  some  water  in  a 
hole,  out  of  which  a  tree  had  been  blown  by  the  root.  They  then 
made  a  kettle  of  soup,  of  which  each  of  the  party  got  a  little. 
After  supping  they  marched  four  or  five  miles  farther,  when  a 
sentinel  was  set  and  they  lay  down  and  slept.  The}-  were  worn 
out  with  fatigue,  and  their  feet  were  knocked  to  pieces  against 
the  roots  in  the  night  and  by  splashing  through  the  ice  without 
shoes,  for  "the  ground  was  covered  with  snow  and  the  flats  filled 
with  water  frozen  over,  the  ice  as  thick  as  a  knife-blade."  On  the 
6th  of  November  they  reached  Hamilton  and  were  out  of  danger. 

On  the  25th  of  November  Benham  and  his  nephew  were  paid 
off"  and  discharged  at  Fort  Washington.  A  week  later  Van  Cleve 
entered  the  service  of  the  new  army  contractors,  Elliott  &  Wil- 
liams, and  started  the  same  day  for  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  to  bring 
up  a  boat-load  of  salt.  When  he  returned  he  was  employed  by 
the  contractors  to   feed  and   take  charge  of  a  herd  of   cattle 


EARLY    SETTLERS  43 

through  the  winter.  In  the  spring,  when  the  cattle  were  turned 
out  to  pasture  near  Cincinnati,  he  went  on  a  twelve  days'  trip  by 
boat  to  Fort  Hamilton.  Afterwards  for  a  short  time  he  was  in 
charge  of  horses  belonging  to  the  quartermaster  at  a  camp  three 
miles  up  the  Licking  River. 

The  evening  of  the  loth  of  May,  1792,  he  was  expected  at 
Cincinnati  to  draw  provisions.  He  arrived  about  dark  and  found 
that  the  quartermaster  had  determined  to  send  him  express  to 
Philadelphia,  and  had  been  to  his  mother's,  had  his  clothes 
packed,  a  horse  saddled,  and  everything  ready  for  the  journe3'. 
He  received  his  instructions  from  the  quartermaster  and  com- 
mandant, and  started  before  midnight  accompanied  by  Captain 
Kimberland.  Forty  dollars  were  given  him,  which  were  expected 
to  be  "equal  to  his  expenses"  and  he  was  ordered  to  take  the 
most  direct  route  to  Philadelphia,  which  at  that  daj^  was  via 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  Crab  Orchard,  Cumberland  Mountains, 
Powell's  Valley,  Abingdon,  Bolecourt,  Lexington,  Staunton,  Mar- 
tinsburg,  Louisa,  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  York  and  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania.  He  traveled  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  by  day 
or  by  night.  On  reaching  Crab  Orchard  eighteen  persons  joined 
him.  The  party  was  armed  with  five  guns  and  five  pistols.  The 
trip,  on  account  of  the  Indian  alarms  and  rainy  weather,  was 
very  disagreeable. 

Van  Cleve  reached  Philadelphia  June  7,  1792,  and  delivered  his 
dispatches  next  day.  He  went  to  the  War  Department  every 
morning  at  ten  o'clock  to  see  if  there  were  an}'  commands  for 
him,  and  at  last  General  Knox  ordered  him  to  go  to  New  York 
to  conduct  thither  a  pair  of  fine  horses  which  the  heads  of  the 
department  had  presented  to  Captain  Joseph  Brant,  chief  of 
the  Six  Nations.  Van  Cleve  was  directed  to  leave  the  horses 
in  the  care  of  Mr.  Edward  Bardin,  of  the  City  Tavern,  taking 
his  receipt  and  requesting  him  to  deliver  them  to  Captain  Brant 
on  the  latter's  arrival  in  New  York.  Mr.  Van  Cleve  replied  that 
he  would  be  glad  to  go  to  New  York,  but  that,  if  he  went,  money 
to  pay  his  expenses  must  be  furnished  him  bj'  the  Government. 
General  Knox  was  much  excited  by  this  answer,  swore  at  the 
young  man,  and  declared  that  it  took  more  for  his  expenses  than 
would  support  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  !  Whereupon  Van  Cleve 
waxed  wroth.  "I  suppose,"  he  says,  "he  was  in  jest,  but  I  felt 
nettled,  and  observed  that  I  ate  three  times  a  da}',  as  I  was 
accustomed  to  do  at  home,  and  my  horse  had  to  have  haj'  and 


44  EARLY   DAYTON 

oats ;  that  I  had  been  on  expense  for  fortj"  or  fifty  days  and  on 
fort3'  dollars ;  and  that  I  was  a  small  matter  behind  with  mj^ 
landlord."  Knox  made  no  further  objections,  bnt  ordered  the 
necessar\-  money  to  be  paid  to  Van  Cleve. 

Captain  Brant  arrived  b}-  stage  at  the  Cit}-  Tavern  on  June  29, 
just  as  his  horses  stopped  at  the  door,  so  that  he  gave  his  own 
receipt  for  the  animals.  It  is  stated  in  the  Memoranda  that  the 
chief  was  "quite  intelligent  and  communicative,  wrote  a  decent 
hand,  and  was  dressed  more  than  half  in  the  fashion  of  the  whites." 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  returned  to  Philadelphia  on  the  30th  of  June. 
Knox  gave  him  leave  of  absence  until  the  nth  of  Jul}-  to  visit 
relatives  in  New  Jerse3^  During  his  sta}'  in  Philadelphia  he 
amused  himself  visiting  friends,  attending  the  play,  drawing 
a  plan  of  President  Washington's  new  house,  which  was  then 
building,  and  reading  all  the  books  he  could  get  hold  of.  He 
purchased  twentj'-five  volumes.  He  boarded  with  a  Quaker 
family,  and  found  profit  and  pleasure  in  attending  the  Friends' 
meeting  and  in  reading  Barclay's  "Apolog}^"  and  others  of  their 
books.  "The  landlord  and  landlad}-,"  he  saj's,  "assumed  the 
exercise  of  parental  authority  over  me,  the  same  as  over  their  own 
son.  I  believe  I  was  more  obedient  to  them,  and  a  considerable 
share  of  mutual  attachment  took  place.  I  felt  regret  at  parting 
from  them,  and  my  good  mother  shed  tears  on  the  occasion." 

He  left  Philadelphia  on  the  25th  of  Jul}'  with  dispatches  for 
General  Wajme,  who  was  at  Wheeling,  and  for  Colonel  Cushing, 
the  commandant  at  Fort  W^ashington.  On  his  return  joumej^  he 
followed  the  route  over  the  Alleghanies  he  had  traveled  when 
emigrating  from  New  Jersey  in  17S9,  and  found  the  roads  much 
improved.  On  the  wa}-  he  turned  aside  to  visit  relatives,  and  was 
slightly  reprimanded  b\'  General  Wayne  for  his  delaj'  in  deliver- 
ing the  dispatches.  The  journe}'  from  Wheeling  to  Cincinnati 
was  made  by  river.  The  partj'  occupied  two  boats,  commanded 
by  Ensign  Hunter,  a  sergeant,  and  corporal,  who  were  conduct- 
ing to  Ohio  twent^'-one  recruits  enlisted  in  New  Jerse}*.  One 
boat  was  loaded  with  oats  and  com,  and  the  other  had  on  board  a 
quantity  of  cannon-ball,  two  pieces  of  artiller}-,  and  a  few  boxes 
of  shoes.  Four  recruits  deserted  at  Wheeling,  and  Van  Cleve 
turned  out  with  a  party  of  soldiers  to  search  for  them,  but  the 
men  escaped  capture.  A  good  deal  of  whisky  was  drunk  on 
board  the  boats,  and  the  soldiers  were  "mellow"  during  nearh" 
the  whole  voyage.     One  of  the  men  entertained  his  companions 


EARLY    SETTLERS  45 

b%'  singing  for  half  a  day  at  a  time.  Ensign  Hunter  and  his 
wife  frequentl}-  visited  Van  Cleve's  boat,  and  when  alone  with 
the  soldiers  he  amused  himself  reading  the  twentj'-five  books  he 
had  bought  at  Philadelphia,  finishing  nearly-  all  of  them  before 
he  reached  Cincinnati  on  the  3d  of  August,  1792.  One  6ay  he 
and  the  sergeant  and  another  person  landed  for  a  deer  hunt,  over- 
taking the  boats  further  down  the  river. 

Van  Cleve's  expenses  during  his  absence  of  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  daj-s  were  $114.56^^.  He  ser\-ed  a  month  in  the  quarter- 
master's department  after  his  return.  Through  some  misunder- 
standing, he  did  not  receive  his  pay  for  his  ser\-ices  as  express 
till  the  15th  of  March,  1793.  "I  became  tired  and  disgusted," 
he  saj-s,  "  with  their  arrogant  and  ungenerous  treatment,  and  in 
want  of  the  mone}-  I  begged  that  the}-  would  pay  me  something 
—  anj-thing  that  the}'  thought  I  merited.  There  was  no  mail 
nor  way  for  me  to  make  it  known  or  get  redress  at  Philadelphia, 
and  they  were  so  good  as  to  paj-  me  five  shillings  per  da}-."  Yet 
the  quartermaster  professed  to  be  satisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  discharged  his  duties,  and  with  the  bills  of  expense. 
"Paid  Israel  Ludlow  for  my  lots  in  Cincinnati,"  he  saj'S,  after 
concluding  his  account  of  the  trip  to  Philadelphia,  ' '  got  bills  of 
sale  for  them,  and  cleared  and  fenced  them.  I  labored  intolerably' 
hard,  so  as  to  injure  m\-  health,  and  raised  a  fine  crop  of  corn." 

In  the  winter  of  1793  Van  Cleve  and  Stacey  [McDonough 
engaged  with  the  "arm}-  contractors,  Elliott  &  Williams,  to 
bring  up  salt  and  other  articles  from  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  to 
Cincinnati.  The  contractors  furnished  a  boat  and  one  hundred- 
weight of  flour  for  each  trip,  and  paid  six  shillings  sixpence 
freight  per  barrel.  Van  Cleve  and  his  companions  took  the 
boat  down  themselves,  but  engaged  hands  at  five  dollars  per  week 
in  Kentuck}-  (where  the  farmers,  when  their  summer  work  was 
over,  were  glad  to  get  emploj-ment  in  the  public  service),  who 
agreed  to  be  read}-,  on  certain  da3-s  when  the  cargo  for  the  return 
voyage  was  collected,  to  assist  in  loading  the  boat.  They  brought 
up  one  boat-load  of  salt  and  two  of  corn.  B\'  the  ist  of  December 
Van  Cleve  cleared  sevent3--five  dollars.  The}-  then  reengaged 
with  the  contractors  at  fifteen  dollars  per  month  and  went  for  a 
boat-load  of  salt,  but  did  not  receive  their  freight  till  Januar}'  i, 
1794.  The  river  was  almost  frozen  over  and  they  had  a  tedious 
return  trip,  not  reaching  Cincinnati  till  Januan,-  25. 

In  Februar}',  1794,  Captain  Benham  employed  Benjamin  Van 


46  EARLY  DAYTON 

Cleve  to  open  a  sutler's  store  at  Fort  Greenville,  the  headquarters 
at  this  date  of  Wayne's  legion.  He  took  six  packhorses  to 
Greenville,  loaded  with  stores  and  liquors,  and  in  March  returned 
to  Cincinnati  for  another  six-horse  load.  This  was  an  unfortunate 
undertaking.  He  was  twice  robbed  while  at  the  fort,  losing  over 
fifty  dollars  in  money,  all  his  clothes,  and  some  small  articles. 
He  also  got  into  trouble  at  headquarters  through  a  misunder- 
standing, sold  the  sutler's  store,  and  left  Fort  Greenville  penniless. 

On  the  1 6th  of  May  he  again  engaged  in  the  contractors' 
employ,  and  on  the  24th  was  sent  down  the  Ohio  to  Fort  Massac 
with  two  boats  loaded  with  provisions.  A  detachment  of  infantry 
and  artillery  commanded  by  Major  Doyle  and  Captain  Guion,  and 
eight  Chickasaw  Indians,  accompanied  them.  There  were  ten 
boats  in  the  little  fleet,  which  were  directed  to  proceed  in  exact 
order.  Van  Cleve' s  boat,  number  seven,  was  heavily  loaded  and 
weak  in  hands,  so  that  when  all  were  rowing  it  could  not  keep 
up,  and  when  all  were  drifting  it  outwent  the  other  boats.  As 
the  Major  had  the  reputation  of  being  haughty,  arbitrary,  and 
imperious,  and  had  been  nicknamed  "King  Doyle,"  Van  Cleve 
thought  it  useless  to  explain  matters  to  him.  Sometimes  num- 
ber seven  would  be  ten  miles  ahead  in  the  morning,  and  it  would 
take  the  others  with  hard  rowing  half  the  day  to  overtake  it. 
"The  men,"  the  Memoranda  relates,  "by  that  time  would  be 
pretty  much  fatigued,  and  we  could  manage  to  keep  our  place 
until  night.  We  generally  received  a  hearty  Volley  of  execrations 
for  our  disobedience  of  his  orders.  We  returned  mild  excuses 
and  determined  to  repeat  the  offense." 

At  Saline,  on  June  11,  "I  observed,"  Van  Cleve  sa3'S,  "a  fire 
on  shore,  and  hailed,  when  two  Canadian  French  hunters  came 
to  us  with  their  canoes  loaded  with  skins,  bears'  oil,  and  dogs. 
One  of  them  had  passed  twenty-six  years  in  the  wilderness 
between  Vincennes  and  the  Illinois  River.  Before  morning  we 
found  three  others,  who  went  along  with  us  to  hunt  for  us." 
The  boats  reached  Fort  Massac  June  12.  On  the  26th  of  Jiine 
"  King  Doyle  "  unjustly  ordered  the  arrest  of  Van  Cleve  and  his 
comrades.  That  day  there  arrived  at  Fort  Massac  a  number  of 
men  who  had  been  enlisted  in  Tennessee  by  ofiicers  who  had 
received  commissions  from  Citizen  Genet,  ambassador  from  the 
French  Republic  to  the  United  States.  The  real  object  of  the 
visit  of  these  French  recruits  was  probably  to  examine  the  place, 
and  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  force  assembled  there ;  but  they 


EARLY    SETTLERS  47 

stated  that,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  they  had  vohmteered  to 
escort  soijie  salt-boats  to  Nashville,  and  had  stopped  out  of 
curiosity  to  see  the  soldiers.  They  invited  Van  Cleve  and  his 
companions  to  take  passage  in  their  boat,  and  as  the  former  was 
anxious  to  return  home  the  offer  was  accepted.  Neither  Van 
Cleve  nor  his  associates  were  interested  in  Genet's  projects. 
One  of  Van  Cleve' s  party  who  had  a  public  rifle  went  up  to 
restore  it  to  the  Major,  who,  angry  at  his  departure,  cursed  and 
struck  him,  and  ordered  him  and  his  friends,  who  were  in  the 
boat  but  heard  the  command,  to  be  taken  to  the  guard-house. 
"The  Major,"  Van  Cleve  states,  "was  walking  backward  and 
forward  on  top  of  the  bank.  With  my  gun  in  one  hand  and 
tomahawk  in  the  other,  and  a  knife  eighteen  inches  long  hang- 
ing at  my  side,  dressed  in  a  hunting-frock,  breechcloth,  and 
leggings,  mjr  countenance  probably  manifesting  my  excitement, 
I  leaped  out  of  the  boat,  and  with  a  very  quick  step  went  up  to 
the  Major.  I  looked  like  a  savage,  and  the  Major,  mistaking  my 
intention,  was  alarmed  and  retired  as  I  advanced."  Finally, 
matters  were  explained  to  the  satisfaction  of  both,  and  Van  Cleve 
consented  to  remain  till  the  3d  of  July,  when  the  Major  intended 
to  send  a  boat  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio.  Van  Cleve  and  his 
friends  left  on  the  appointed  day,  but  growing  tired  of  the 
society  of  the  soldiers,  determined  on  the  9th,  at  Red  Banks,  to 
make  the  remainder  of  the  journey  by  land. 

Red  Banks  was  on  the  border  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and, 
as  it  was  unknown  as  yet  to  which  the  place  belonged,  it  was  a 
lawless  region  and  a  refuge  for  thieves  and  rogues  of  all  kinds 
who  had  "been  able  to  effect  their  escape  from  justice  in  the 
neighboring  States."  At  Red  Banks  our  travelers  saw  a  fellow 
named  Kuykendall,  who  "always  carried  in  his  waistcoat  pockets 
'devil's  claws,'  or  rather  weapons  that  he  could  slip  his  fingers 
in,  and  with  which  he  could  take  off"  the  whole  side  of  a  man's 
face  at  one  claw."  Kuykendall  had  just  been  married  and  a 
wedding  ball  was  in  progress  when  Van  Cleve  arrived,  at  the 
close  of  which  festivities  the  bridegroom  was  murdered  by  some 
of  the  guests. 

On  July  II  the  travelers  reached  Green  River.  They  each 
made  a  raft  with  an  armful  of  wood  and  a  grapevine  to  carry 
their  gun  and  clothes  "  and  then  taking  the  vines  in  their  mouth 
swam  the  river,  dragging  their  rafts  after  them."  During  the 
four  succeeding  days  they  passed  through  an  uninhabited  wilder- 


48  EARLY  DAYTON 

ness.  July  26  they  arrived  at  Cincinnati.  Spies  employed  by 
Wayne's  army  had  just  come  in  for  ammunition  and  were  going 
to  return  on  foot.  They  invited  Van  Cleve  to  join  them,  and  he 
regretted  that  his  feet  and  clothes  were  both  almost  worn  out, 
and  as  he  was  unable  to  stand  the  journe}'  he  was  obliged  to 
decline  the  offer. 

On  the  28th  of  July  he  was  employed  by  the  contractors  to  drive 
a  drove  of  cattle  to  Fort  Greenville.  Nearly  the  whole  of  August 
he  was  very  ill  at  Cincinnati.  On  his  recovery,  after  paying 
doctor's  and  board  bills  and  for  some  clothes,  he  had  but  a  dollar 
left.  Accordingly,  though  so  weak  that  he  could  hardly  walk, 
he  engaged  with  the  contractors  to  drive  cattle  to  the  army  then 
at  Fort  Wayne,  and  was  occupied  with  this  business  till  Decem- 
ber. In  January,  1795,  he  entered  into  partnership  at  Cincinnati 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Jerome  Holt,  and  Captain  John  Schooley. 
They  farmed  and  also  hauled  quartermaster's  supplies  to  Fort 
Washington  and  the  outposts  in  their  six-horse  wagon.  Van 
Cleve  "worked  hard,  lived  poor,  and  was  very  economical,  and 
had  about  as  much  when  he  quit  as  when  he  began." 

In  the  fall  of  1795  he  accompanied  Captain  Dunlap  to  make 
the  survey  of  the  land  purchased  for  the  Dayton  settlement. 
Surveyors  endured  much  hardship.  A  hunter  and  a  spy  always 
accompanied  surveying  parties,  for  they  were  obliged  to  supply 
themselves  with  food  from  the  woods,  and  to  be  on  the  watch 
against  attacks  from  w^andering  bands  of  Indians.  On  the  26th 
of  September  Van  Cleve  records  that  their  horse  was  missing, 
though  he  had  been  well  secured  when  they  camped  for  the 
night.  Indians  had  probably  stolen  him.  They  hunted  for  him 
all  day,  but  did  not  find  him  ;  and  were  thenceforth  obliged  to 
carrj'  the  baggage  themselves,  though  traveling  on  foot.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Mad  River,  the  site  of  Daj'ton,  they 
found  six  Wyandot  Indians  camped  there.  At  first  both  the 
white  and  the  red  men  were  a  little  alarmed ;  but  they  talked 
together,  and  dicussed  mutual  grievances.  Van  Cleve' s  father 
had  been  killed  by  Indians,  and  the  Wyandots  had  suffered 
in  like  manner  from  the  white  man.  They  admitted  that  both 
sides  had  reason  for  complaint,  and  that  both  were  to  blame,  and 
they  soon  became  friends  and  exchanged  presents.  ' '  They  gave 
us,"  Van  Cleve  says,  "some  venison  jerk,  and  we  in  return 
gave  them  a  little  flour,  salt,  tobacco,  and  other  small  articles. 
At  the  request  of  one  of  them,  I  exchanged  knives,  giving  him 


From  a  water-color  portrait  in  possesBion  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Dover.  Copyright,  1895,  by  W.  J.  Shuey. 

BENJAMIN  VAN  CLEVE, 


EARLY    SETTLERS  49 

a  very  large  one,  scabbard,  and  belt  that  I  carried  for  several 
years,  for  his,  which  was  not  so  valuable,  with  a  worsted  belt 
and  a  deerskin  to  boot." 

The  ist  of  October  their  hunter  and  another  man  were  sent 
forward  to  hunt  and  cook,  and  when,  after  a  day  of  fasting  and 
hard  work,  the  surveyors  reached  camp  they  found  that  some 
Indians  had  robbed  their  men  of  most  of  the  provisions,  and 
"menaced  their  lives."  On  another  occasion  the  surveyors 
fasted  thirty-four  hours,  laboring  and  traveling  most  of  the 
time,  and  the  Memoranda  describes  the  gusto  with  which  they 
ate  the  big  pot  of  mush  and  milk  which  was  all  they  had  for 
supper  when  at  last  they  reached  a  cabin.  "October  3,"  Van 
Cleve  writes,  "it  rained  very  hard,  and  the  surveyor  got  his 
papers  all  wet  and  was  about  stopping.  We  had  about  a  pound 
of  meat,  and,  though  we  had  nearly  done  our  business,  were 
thinking  of  setting  off  for  home.  I  undertook  to  keep  the  field- 
notes,  and  hit  on  the  expedient  of  taking  them  down  on  tablets 
of  wood  with  the  point  of  my  knife,  so  I  could  understand  them 
and  take  them  off  again  on  paper."  They  returned  to  Cincinnati 
on  the  4th  of  October. 

On  the  ist  of  November  Van  Cleve  went  again  to  Mad  River. 
A  lottery  was  held,  and  he  drew  lots  in  and  near  Dayton  for  him- 
self and  others,  and  "engaged  to  become  a  settler  in  the  spring." 
This  winter,  when  not  surveying,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  wrote  in 
the  recorder's  oflSce  at  Cincinnati.  In  March,  1796,  as  already 
related,  he  accompanied  his  mother  and  several  others  to  Dayton. 
In  his  diary  he  made  this  simple  and  characteristic  record  of  their 
arrival  at  their  new  home:  "April  i,  1796.  Landed  at  Dayton, 
after  a  passage  of  ten  days,  William  Gahagan  and  myself 
having  come  with  Thompson's  and  McClure's  families  in  a  large 
pirogue." 

Van  Cleve  raised  a  very  good  crop  of  corn  at  Dayton  this 
year,  but  most  of  it  was  destroyed.  He  sold  his  possessions  in 
Cincinnati,  but  "sunk  the  price  of  his  lots."  He  gave  eighty 
dollars  for  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  one  of  them  was  shot,  and  twenty 
dollars  for  a  cow  and  it  died  ;  so  that  at  the  close  of  1796  he  was 
about  forty  dollars  in  debt.  The  next  year  his  farming  was  also 
unsuccessful,  and  he  lost  $16.17  and  gained  nothing.  In  the  fall 
of  1796  he  accompanied  Israel  Ludlow  and  W.  C.  Schenck  to 
survey  the  United  States  military  lands  between  the  Scioto  and 
Muskingum  rivers.     "We  had  deep  snow,"  he  says,  "covered 


50 


EARLY   DAYTON 


with  crust.  The  weather  was  cold  and  still,  so  that  we  could  kill 
but  little  game,  and  we  were  twenty-nine  days  without  bread,  and 
nearly  all  that  time  without  salt,  and  sometimes  very  little  to  eat. 
We  were  five  days — seven  in  company  —  on  four  meals,  and  they, 
except  the  last,  scanty.  They  consisted  of  a  turkey,  two  young 
raccoons,  and  the  last  day  some  rabbits  and  venison,  which  we  got 
from  some  Indians."  In  February,  1798,  he  began  the  study  of 
surveying  in  Cincinnati,  boarding  at  Captain  Benham's.  He 
was  promised  a  district  in  the  United  States  lands  by  Israel 
Ludlow,  who  had  the  power  of  filling  blank  commissions  from 
the  Surveyor-General,  but  who,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  never 
fulfilled  his  promise.  After  completing  his  studies,  he  "assisted 
Avery  in  his  tavern  during  the  sitting  of  court,  and  for  some 
time  afterwards  posted  books  for  several  persons,  and  wrote  for 
a  short  time  in  the  quartermaster's  department  at  Fort  Wash- 
ington." He  had  been  waiting  in  Cincinnati  all  summer,  hoping 
to  be  employed  as  a  surveyor,  and  was  now  again  put  off.  He 
therefore  returned  to  Dayton.  On  his  arrival,  having  nothing 
else  to  do,  he  dug  a  sawmill  pit  for  D.  C.  Cooper,  proprietor  of 
the  town.  From  working  in  so  damp  and  chill}-  a  place  he  caught 
a  violent  cold,  and  had  rheumatism  and  fever,  succeeded  by 
pleurisy.  He  had  been  forced  to  sell  his  preemption  rights  and 
outlots  in  Dayton,  but  in  1799  rented  some  ground  and  raised  an 
excellent  crop  of  corn. 


CHAPTER  III 

PIONEER  LIFE 

Two  Houses  on  Main  Street  in  1799— Small  Size  of  Cabins— Description  by 
W.  C.  Howells  of  a  Home  of  tbe  Period— Newcom's  Tavern,  First  House 
in  Dayton,  Chinked  with  Mortar— Corner  Monument  Avenue  and  Main 
Street  the  Business  Center  of  Dayton  —  First  White  Child  Born  in  Dayton  — 
Biography  of  Colonel  Newcom  — Wearisome  Journey  Through  the  Woods 
to  Dayton —Camping  at  Night— Newcom 's  Tavern  Described  —  Relics  —Old 
Clock  and  BrassCandlestick  — First  County  Court  Held  at  Tavern  — Money 
Scarce  — Convicted  Persons  Fined  a  Deerskin  or  a  Bushel  of  Corn  — Sen- 
tenced to  Thirty-Nine  Lashes  on  Bare  Back  — Shei-iflf  Newcom's  Primitive 
Prison  a  Corn-Crib  and  a  Dry  Well— Anecdotes  of  Visits  of  Troublesome 
Indians  to  the  Tavern  — Colonel  Newcom  Introduces  Apples  — First  Wed- 
ding in  Dayton  —  Benjamin  Van  Cleve's  Characteristic  Account  of  the 
Event— Mr.  Van  Cleve's  Hospitality  to  Strangers  — Usefulness  to  the  New 
Town  — W.  C.  Howells's  Description  of  Social  Life  in  Pioneer  Times— Fire- 
Hunting  on  the  Miami  — Women  Helped  Their  Husbands  in  the  Fields  — 
Dependent  on  the  Husband's  and  Father's  Gun  for  Meals  — Pelts  and 
Bears'  Oil  Articles  of  Merchandise — Skins  Used  for  Clothes,  Moccasins, 
Rugs,  and  Coverlets — Business  Conducted  by  Barter  — Ginseng,  Peltries, 
Beeswax,  etc..  Used  as  Money  —  Cut-Money  or  Sharp  Shins  —  Charges  Made 
in  Pounds,  Shillings,  and  Pence — Wild  Animals  —  First  Mill,  a  Corn- 
Cracker,  Built  by  D.  C.  Cooper— Log  Meeting-House  Built— Dayton  First 
Governed  Wholly  by  County  Commissioners  and  Township  Assessors  — 
D.  C.  Cooper  Justice  of  the  Peace— Early  Marriages— Petition  Presented 
to  Congress  by  Settlers— The  Town  Nearly  Dies  Out  — D.  C.  Cooper,  Titular 
Proprietor,  Resuscitates  It  — Town  Plats  — Basis  of  Titles — Ohio  a  State  — 
Montgomery  Separated  from  Hamilton  County  —  Population  Increases 
—  First  Election  — First  County  Court  — Mr.  Cooper  Builds  Saw-  and  Grist- 
Mills— Levees  — New  Graveyard  — Log-Cabin  Meeting-House  Sold— New 
First  Presbyterian  Church— Mr.  Cooper's  Death  — First  Jail. 

The  only  buildings  in  1799  on  ]\Iain  Street  within  view  of  the 
blockhouse  on  the  site  of  the  Soldiers'  Monument  were  New- 
corn's  log  tavern,  two  stories  in  height,  and  containing  four 
rooms,  built  in  the  winter  of  1798-1799,  and  George  Westfall's 
cabin  of  one  room  and  a  loft,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
alley  between  First  Street  and  Monument  Avenue.  One  won- 
ders how  a  family  of  five  or  six  could  live  in  a  diminutive  house 
like  the  latter.  W.  C.  Howells,  father  of  the  novelist,  in  his 
"Recollections  of  Ohio,"  published  in  the  spring  of  1895,  de- 

51 


52  EARLY  DAYTON 

scribes  such  a  cabin,  into  which  two  families,  one  of  them  his 
father's, — cultivated,  refined  people, —  were  crowded  for  four  days 
and  nights,  and  which  was  the  home  of  the  Howells  family,  num- 
bering nine,  for  several  months.  This  log  cabin  was  eighteen  by 
twenty  feet  in  size,  and  with  a  loft  overhead,  in  the  highest  part 
of  which  you  could  make  a  bed  on  the  floor.  The  cabin  con- 
tained fourteen  persons  during  the  crowded  period  mentioned  — 
eight  grown  people  and  six  children.  Mr.  Howells  says:  "As 
I  write  this  in  a  house  where  there  would  be  a  room  for  each,  I 
do  not  myself  see  how  it  was  managed.  But  that  was  fifty  years 
ago,  and  people  put  up  with  worse  things.  The  fact  is,  there 
was  no  alternative,  and  when  it  is  that  or  nothing  we  can  do 
manj'  odd  things."  In  those  days  people  rolled  up  in  a  bear- 
skin or  blanket  and  slept  on  the  puncheon  floor  or  out-of-doors 
in  summer  on  the  grass. 

It  is  difiicult  for  people  with  modern  ideas  of  space  and  privacy 
to  comprehend  how  a  small  house  like  Newcom's  Tavern  could 
have  afforded  accommodations  for  travelers,  for  a  store,  church, 
court-house,  and  jail.  But  INIr.  Howells  throws  some  light  on 
this  question  also.  Describing  a  journey  in  a  wagon,  he  says : 
"We  stopped  at  night  at  a  tavern,  as  was  the  custom,  only  hiring 
the  use  of  one  room  on  the  first  floor,  known  as  the  movers' 
room,  and  the  privilege  of  the  fire  to  make  tea  or  coffee,  or  fry 
bacon.  It  was  very  much  like  camping  out,  save  that  we  were 
housed  at  soldiers'  quarters."  The  movers'  room  of  a  tavern  was 
also,  no  doubt,  often  used  for  meetings  of  the  court  or  of  the 
church.  Mr.  Howells  says  that  cabins  sometimes  contained  a 
four-light  window,  with  greased  paper  for  glass,  but  it  was  very 
common  for  log  cabins  to  have  no  windows  whatever.  In  ex- 
tremely cold  weather  the  door  would  be  closed,  and  likewise  at 
night,  but  mostly,  by  keeping  a  good  fire,  the  door  could  be  left 
open  for  light  and  ventilation  ;  and  the  chimneys  were  so  wide 
and  so  low,  very  often  not  as  high  as  the  one-story  house,  that 
they  afforded  as  much  light  as  a  small  window.  These  chimneys 
were  always  outside  the  house  at  one  end.  The  manner  of  build- 
ing them  was  to  cut  through  the  logs  at  the  gable-end  a  space  of 
six  or  eight  feet  wide  and  five  or  six  feet  high,  and  logs  were 
built  to  this  opening  like  a  bay-window  ;  this  recess  was  then 
lined  with  a  rough  stone  wall  up  as  high  as  this  opening  ;  from 
that  point  a  smoke-stack  was  built  of  small  sticks  split  out  of 
straight  wood,  and  laid  cob-house  fashion  to  the  height  desired, 


From  a  daguerreotype  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Josiah  Gebhart. 

COLONEL  GEORGE  NEWCOai. 


V  Mi\ 


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M  i' 


..i 


PIONEER  LIFE  53 

and  then  plastered  inside  and  out  with  clay,  held  together  by 
straw. 

In  1799  lime  was  made  in  Dayton  for  the  first  time,  from  stones 
gathered  from  the  bed  of  the  river  and  piled  on  a  huge  log  fire, 
which  took  the  place  of  a  kiln.  Newcom's  Tavern  was  the  first 
house  chinked  and  plastered  with  lime  mortar  instead  of  clay. 
"A  wondering  country  boy,  on  his  return  from  the  village, 
reported  to  his  astonished  family  that  Colonel  Newcom  was 
plastering  his  house  with  flour. ' ' 

The  southwest  corner  of  Monument  Avenue  and  Main  Street 
was  the  business  center  of  Dayton  Township  for  five  or  six 
years.  If  a  crowd  was  possible  in  such  a  hamlet,  it  assembled 
there  when  court  was  in  session,  as  in  1803,  or  when  there  was 
a  meeting  to  organize  for  defense  against  the  Indians,  or  to 
attend  to  religious  or  political  affairs.  All  travelers  on  horse- 
back, on  foot,  or  in  wagons,  prospectors  hunting  for  land,  emi- 
grants, farmers  and  their  wives  in  town  for  the  day,  stopped  at 
Newcom's  Tavern  to  eat  or  sleep,  shop,  attend  to  law  business, 
get  a  drink  of  water  from  the  only  well  in  the  township  or  a 
glass  of  something  stronger,  or  to  rest  and  gossip  around  the 
roaring  log  fire,  where  the  villagers  loved  to  gather.  April  14, 
1800,  Jane  Newcom,  the  first  child  born  in  Dayton,  was  born  at 
her  father's  tavern.  She  married  Nathaniel  Wilson.  Mrs.  Josiah 
Gebhart,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Wilson  and  granddaughter  of  Colonel 
Newcom,  has  portraits  of  both  these  pioneers  in  her  possession. 

The  interest  that  is  felt  in  the  preservation  of  Newcom's  Tavern 
renders  the  career  of  the  builder  of  that  historic  house,  a  man 
who  "  enjoyed  the  respect  of  the  whole  community,"  of  import- 
ance. Colonel  George  Newcom  was  born  in  Ireland  and  brought 
to  this  country  by  his  parents  in  1775.  The  Newcoms  settled 
first  in  Delaware,  removing  afterwards  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Middletown,  Pennsylvania.  George  Newcom  married  Mary  Hen- 
derson, of  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania.  They  had  three 
children,  one  of  whom  died  before  they  came  to  Dayton.  The 
second  child,  John  W.,  had  several  children,  all  of  whom  died 
young,  except  Martha  A.,  who  married  John  E.  Greer,  of  Day- 
ton. The  third  child,  Jane,  as  already  stated,  married  Nathaniel 
Wilson,  and  four  of  her  nine  children  lived  to  be  well  known  in 
Dayton  —  Clinton,  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Hunt,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bowen, 
and  Mrs.  Josiah  Gebhart. 

In  March,  1796,  George  Newcom  and  his  wife  left  Cincinnati 


54  EARLY   DAYTON 

(  where  the}-^  had  arrived  about  1794)  for  the  site  of  Dayton.  Three 
other  families  and  five  unmarried  men  were  of  the  part}'.  It  took 
them  two  weeks  to  make  the  trip  of  sixty  miles  over  the  almost 
unbroken  roads,  and  very  wearisome  and  uncomfortable  was  the 
journey.  The  weather  was  damp  and  cold,  rain}',  and  spitting- 
snow.  Camping  at  night  in  the  wet  woods  was  a  trying  experi- 
ence, though  hatchet  and  ax  furnished  fuel  for  a  blazing  fire, 
kindled  by  rubbing  together  pieces  of  punk  or  rotten  wood,  and 
their  rifles  supplied  them  with  food  from  the  surrounding  forest. 
Beds  were  made  by  spreading  blankets  over  brush.  In  the  early 
morning  mothers  and  children  arose,  shivering  and  unrefreshed  ; 
breakfast  was  prepared,  horses  fed  and  packed  b}-  men  cold,  tired, 
and  discouraged,  and  another  day's  journe}-  begun. 

The  road  from  Cincinnati  to  Hamilton  had  been  used  so  much 
by  United  States  troops  that  it  was  tolerably  good,  but  the 
rough,  narrow  road  from  Hamilton  to  Dayton  was  often  almost 
impassable  for  heavily  laden  horses.  Even  the  women  seem 
to  have  walked  most  of  the  way.  The  men  drove  the  cattle 
and  led  the  packhorses.  In  creels,  suspended  from  either 
side  of  the  pack-saddles,  were  carried  bedding,  clothing,  cook- 
ing utensils,  tableware,  provisions,  tools,  implements,  and 
children  too  small  to  walk,  their  heads  only  appearing  above. 
When  the  party  came  to  small  streams,  the}-  felled  trees  and 
made  foot-bridges.  It  was  necessarj-  to  build  rafts  to  carr}?-  men, 
women,  children,  and  freight  across  large  creeks,  and  horses  and 
cattle  swam  over.  Driving  the  cattle,  which  would  stray  from 
the  road  and  occasion  delay  till  they  were  found,  was  troublesome 
and  provoking  business.  Finallj-,  the  party  reached  the  mouth 
of  Mad  River,  and  found  friends  awaiting  them,  the  other  two 
companies  of  settlers  having  arrived  a  few  days  sooner. 

Colonel  Newcom  built  a  cabin  of  one  room  and  a  loft  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Main  Street  and  INIonument  Avenue  as  soon 
as  he  arrived,  which  in  the  winter  of  1 798-1799  gave  place  to  the 
tavern  of  two  stories  and  four  rooms.  This  latter  house  is 
usually  described  as  tavern,  store,  court-house,  and  jail,  though 
the  jail,  in  two  separate  "apartments,"  was  reall}-  in  the  back 
j^ard,  where  was  also  a  log  barn.  When  large  parties  stopped  at 
Newcom's  Tavern,  probably  thej'  occupied  a  movers'  room  and 
looked  after  themselves.  But  when  one  or  two  travelers  alighted 
with  their  saddle-bags,  they  were  no  doubt  made  literal  guests 
and  taken  into  the  family  as  if  they  were  friends  or  relations.     It 


PIONEER  LIFE  55 

was  a  typical  frontier  tavern,  the  host  and  hostess,  as  was  the 
universal  custom  in  private  houses,  assisting  in  doing  the  work 
of  the  tavern,  and  often  even  the  stable,  with  their  own  hands. 
On  the  kitchen  mantel  of  the  tavern  stood  tall  brass  candlesticks, 
one  of  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Josiah  Gebhart. 
In  a  corner  ticked  the  large,  old-fashioned  clock,  six  feet  or  more 
in  height.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Charles  W.  Geb- 
hart, wound  regularly  with  the  key  that  Colonel  Newcom  used, 
and  keeping  as  excellent  time  as  it  did  a  hundred  years  ago.  In 
the  kitchen  also  stood  a  dresser  laden  with  pewter  dishes,  which 
shone  like  silver. 

The  first  county  court  was  opened  in  an  upper  room  in  New- 
corn's  Tavern  July  2-],  1803,  b}-  Hon.  Francis  Dunlevy,  presiding 
judge  of  the  first  judicial  district.  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was 
clerk  pro  tevi.;  Daniel  S3nimes,  of  Cincinnati,  prosecutor  pro 
tern.;  George  Newcom,  sheriff;  and  James  Miller,  coroner.  The 
law  fixing  the  county-seat  at  Dayton,  which  went  into  force  in 
May,  1803,  also  directed  that  the  court  should  assemble  "at  the 
house  of  George  Newcom,  in  the  town  of  Dayton."  As  there 
was  no  business  to  transact,  court  adjourned  on  the  evening  of 
the  day  it  assembled.  Nearly  all  the  men  in  Montgomery  County 
flocked  to  Newcom's  on  July  27.  The  opening  of  court  was  the 
occasion  of  universal  excitement  and  amusement  in  that  stag- 
nant, back-countr}^  region.  The  judges  and  lawyers  slept  the 
night  of  the  27th  in  one  room  at  the  tavern,  and  left  early  the 
next  morning  on  horseback  to  open  court  at  Xenia.  The  second 
session  of  court  —  November  22,  1803  —  was  held  under  the  trees 
back  of  Newcom's  Tavern,  aad  the  aid  of  the  sheriff  was  required 
to  disperse  the  curious  crowd  which  was  listening,  not  only  to 
the  testimony  of  witnesses,  but  to  the  presumably  secret  discus- 
sions of  the  jury.  Seven  cases  were  tried,  and  court  adjourned 
next  da}'. 

As  money  was  scarce,  persons  convicted  by  the  court  were  fined 
a  certain  number  of  deer  or  other  skins,  or  an  amount  of  corn  or 
pork.  Small  offenses  were  often  punished  by  from  one  to  thirty- 
nine  lashes  on  the  bare  back,  well  laid  on,  the  sentence  being 
executed  hy  Sheriff  Newcom  as  soon  as  pronounced.  There  was 
no  regular  jail,  and  Colonel  Newcom  confined  white  prisoners  in 
a  dry  well  on  his  lot.  "  The  pit  was  dry  and  there  was  no  water 
in  it,"  as  Curwen,  the  witty  first  historian  of  Daj-ton  saj's,  "and 
following  the  example  of  Old   Testament  jailers,  he  let  down 


S6  EARLY  DAYTON 

those  who  broke  the  peace  of  the  State,  and  there  they  remained 
till  brought  up  for  trial."  When  drunken  and  troublesome 
Indians  were  placed  in  his  keeping,  he  bound  them  and  confined 
them  in  his  corn-crib. 

Visits  of  Indians  were  a  great  nuisance  to  pioneers,  whether 
they  were  friendly  or  the  reverse.  They  were  in  the  habit  of 
calling  white  people  by  their  Christian  names,  and  would  stand 
outside  the  Newcom  house,  carefully  closed  against  them,  shout- 
ing "Polly,  Polly,"  and  if  Mrs.  Newcom  persisted  in  refusing  to 
admit  them,  would  fill  their  hands  with  corn  from  the  crib  and 
throw  it  through  the  chinks  between  the  logs  of  the  cabin, 
which  were  not  always  well  filled  with  plaster.  One  day  Colonel 
Newcom  came  home  and  found  his  wife  at  the  wash-tub  and  an 
Indian  bespattered  with  blood  bending  over  her  with  a  toma- 
hawk. The  Colonel  demanded  what  this  meant,  and  the  Indian 
replied  that  "Polly"  was  washing  his  shirt.  He  had  compelled 
Mrs.  Newcom  to  get  a  tub  of  water  and  wash  the  shirt,  which 
was  soaked  with  blood,  whether  of  man  or  wild  beast  Mrs.  New- 
com did  not  learn.  Colonel  Newcom  sprung  upon  the  Indian, 
gave  him  a  severe  beating,  bound  him  with  strong  rope,  and 
threw  him  into  the  corn-crib.  In  a  short  time  the  Indian  was 
discovered  running  towards  Mad  River,  and  was  never  seen  nor 
heard  of  again.  How  he  managed  to  untie  the  rope  and  escape 
is  an  unsolved  mystery. 

Once,  when  Mrs.  Newcom  was  ill,  a  crowd  of  excited  Indians 
burst  into  the  room  where  she  lay  and  ordered  Colonel  Newcom 
to  get  them  a  rope,  as  they  wished  to  bind  one  ol  their  number 
who  had  offended  them.  Mrs.  Newcom  was  afraid  to  be  left 
alone  with  the  Indians,  and  sat  up  and  begged  her  husband  not 
to  get  the  rope.  Thereupon  one  of  the  Indians  pushed  her  back 
with  great  violence  on  the  bed.  Terrified  at  the  threatening 
manner  of  the  angry  rufl&ans,  she  caught  up  her  baby,  Jane,  and 
fled  into  the  hazel  bushes  as  far  from  the  house  as  she  was  able 
to  go,  not  returning  till  Colonel  Newcom  had  got  rid  of  the 
intruders. 

Colonel  Newcom  introduced  apples  into  Dayton.  Previously 
the  settlers  had  no  fruit  but  the  wild  growth  of  the  woods  and 
prairies.  He  brought  a  number  of  apples  from  Cincinnati, 
called  the  citizens  together,  and  gave  different  varieties  of  the  fruit 
to  whoever  desired  to  plant  the  seed.  He  planted  seed  on  his 
farm,  now  the  home  of  Mr.  P.  E.  Gilbert,  on  Huffman  Avenue, 


PIONEER  LIFE  57 

setting  out  the  tiny  trees  in  an  orchard  when  they  were  only  a 
few  inches  high.     This  orchard  was  cut  down  a  year  ago. 

Colonel  Newcom  was  the  first  sheriff  of  Montgomery  County, 
and  held  other  offices.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature 
for  twenty-three  consecutive  years  —  first  as  a  senator  and  after- 
wards as  a  member  of  the  lower  house.  When  the  lyCgislature 
spent  time  uselessly  on  business  of  little  importance,  he  would 
berate  his  fellow  members  for  wasting  the  people's  money  by 
long  sessions  when  all  important  affairs  could  have  been  crowded 
into  a  short  period.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  Wayne's  campaign 
against  the  Indians  in  1794,  and  also  in  the  War  of  1812.  April 
3,  1834,  his  first  wife  died.  He  married  Elizabeth  Bowen,  June 
22,  1836.  She  died  'October  29,  1850.  Colonel  Newcom  lived  to 
be  eighty-two,  and  died  February  25,  1853. 

August  28,  1800,  is  noted  as  the  date  of  the  first  wedding  in 
Dayton.  On  that  day  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  married  to  Mary 
Whitten  at  her  father's  house  on  his  farm  a  short  distance  from 
town.  Mr.  Van  Cleve  makes  this  characteristic  record  of  the 
event  in  his  diary :  ' '  This  year  I  raised  a  crop  of  corn  and 
determined  on  settling  m3'self,  and  having  a  home ;  I  accordingly^, 
on  the  28th  of  August,  married  Mary  Whitten,  daughter  of  John 
Whitten,  near  Dayton.  She  was  young,  lively,  and  ingenuous. 
My  property  was  a  horse  creature,  and  a  few  farming  utensils, 
and  her  father  gave  her  a  few  household  or  kitchen  utensils,  so 
that  we  could  make  shift  to  cook  our  provisions ;  a  bed,  a  cow 
and  heifer,  an  ewe  and  two  lambs,  a  sow  and  pigs,  and  a  saddle 
and  spinning-wheel.  I  had  corn  and  vegetables  growing,  so  that 
if  we  were  not  rich  we  had  sufficient  for  our  immediate  wants, 
and  we  were  contented  and  happy."  Mr.  Van  Cleve's  marriage 
was  a  benefit  to  the  community,  for  it  enabled  him  to  exercise 
that  open-handed  hospitality  to  strangers  which  was  a  trait  of 
the  public-spirited  pioneers.  The  writer  of  an  obituary  notice 
of  him  published  in  the  Da3-ton  Watchman,  in  1821,  says  :  "He 
has  been  a  leading  character  in  this  county,  and  has  taken  an 
active  part  in  promoting  its  interests.  By  using  system  in  his 
business,  he  found  leisure  from  his  duties  as  clerk  of  the  court, 
postmaster,  and  his  private  affairs,  to  do  much  for  the  public 
good  ;  and  the  strangers  that  passed  through  town  found  in 
Mr.  Van  Cleve  one  who  was  able  and  took  pleasure  in  giving 
them  information." 

Ohio  was  a  new  and  unknown  country  at  the  beginning  of  the 


58  EARLY  DAYTON 

nineteenth  century,  and  travelers  and  land  prospectors  were  un- 
able to  obtain  from  books  or  newspapers  the  facts  they  desired  in 
regard  to  soil,  climate,  population,  and  business.  It  was,  there- 
fore, greatly  to  the  advantage  of  a  recently  settled  town  and 
county  to  have  within  their  borders  one  like  Mr.  Van  Cleve, 
who  was  not  only  a  good  talker,  but  a  perfect  mine  of  informa- 
tion (he  had,  while  surveying,  traveled  over  nearly  every  foot  of 
ground  in  this  neighborhood ),  and  also  willing  to  take  the  time 
and  trouble  to  instruct  inquiring  visitors,  who,  if  properly 
approached,  might  be  induced  to  become  permanent  settlers.  He 
understood  farming,  and  cultivated  his  quarter-section,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  now  within  the  corporation,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  town,  and  a  valuable  inheritance  for  his  descendants. 

Benjamin  and  Mary  W.  Van  Cleve  had  five  children :  John 
Whitten,  born  June  27,  1801,  died,  unmarried,  September  6,  1858, 
as  remarkable  a  man  and  as  useful  a  citizen  as  his  father.  William 
James,  born  1803,  died  1808.  Henrietta  Maria,  born  November 
16,  1805,  married  Samuel  B.  Dover,  September  21,  1824,  surviv- 
ing him ;  she  married  Joseph  Bond  November  4,  1858,  and  died 
May  18,  1879.  Her  descendants  now  living  are  two  daughters, 
Mrs.  Sophia  Simpson,  of  Dayton,  and  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Dill,  of  Union 
City,  Indiana;  William  Simpson,  of  Daj'ton,  Dr.  Moses  Simp- 
son, Freehold,  New  Jersej-, — children  of  Mrs.  Sophia  Simpson, — 
and  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Thomas  Dover,  deceased, — Fay 
and  Samuel,  of  Dayton;  John,  living  in  California;  Mrs.  Anna 
McKnight,  of  Dayton.  Her  third  daughter,  Phebe,  married 
Emery  Belden,  and  her  daughter  lives  in  Dayton.  The  fourth 
daughter  is  dead,  but  has  a  son  and  daughter  living  in  the  city. 
The  fourth  child  of  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  Mary  Cornelia,  born 
December  2,  1807 ;  married  James  Andrews,  November  20,  1827, 
and  died  February  19,  1878;  children.  Miss  America  Andrews 
and  Mrs.  Laura  Poling,  of  Dayton,  and  I.  W.  Andrews,  of 
Kansas  City;  grandchildren,  Mrs.  Edith  Allison,  Dayton ; 
Dr.  J.  Andrews,  Mansfield  ;  Mrs.  Alice  Yoke,  Lewisburg ;  Harry 
C.  Andrews,  Grace  and  Clifford  Andrews,  Da^'^ton  ;  Earl  and 
Charley  Andrews,  Cambridge  City.  The  youngest  child  of 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  Sarah  Sophia,  was  born  November,  1809; 
married  David  C.  Baker,  February  11,  1830,  and  died  October 
18,  1839.  Her  children  live  in  Indiana  or  Kansas.  Mr.  Van 
Cleve's  first  wife  died  in  1810.  In  1812  he  married  Mary  Tamp- 
lin.     They  had  no  children.     She  died  in  1825. 


PIONEER  WFE  59 

W.  C.  Howells  (who,  b}^  the  way,  lived  in  Dayton  and  edited 
the  Transcript  in  1850)  says  of  pioneer  times:  "Particularly 
remarkable  was  the  general  equality  and  the  general  dependence 
of  all  upon  the  neighboring  kindness  and  good  offices  of  others. 
The  houses  and  barns  were  built  of  logs,  and  were  raised  b}^  the 
collection  of  many  neighbors  together  on  one  daj^  whose  united 
strength  was  necessary  to  the  handling  of  the  logs.  This  kind 
of  mutual  help  by  the  neighbors  was  extended  to  many  kinds  of 
work,  such  as  rolling  up  and  burning  the  logs  in  a  clearing, 
grubbing  out  the  underbrush,  splitting  rails,  cutting  logs  for 
a  house,  and  the  like.  When  a  gathering  of  men  for  such  a  pur- 
pose took  place,  there  was  commonly  some  sort  of  mutual  job 
laid  out  for  women,  such  as  quilting  (patchwork  was  the  art 
embroidery  of  that  era),  sewing,  or  spinning  up  a  lot  of  thread 
for  some  poor  neighbor. ' '  Corn-huskings  and  maple-sugar  camps 
were  also  jolly  resorts  in  their  seasons.  An  abundant  supper, 
which  the  women  who  were  guests  helped  prepare,  was  served  on 
such  festive  occasions,  and  dancing  and  kissing  games  finished 
the  evening.  Singing-  and  grammar-  or  spelling-schools  were 
also  pioneer  amusements  of  men  and  women  of  all  ages.  A  favor- 
ite sport  of  the  settlers  was  fire-hunting,  which  Curwen  thus 
describes:  "The  deer  came  down  to  the  river  to  drink  in  the 
evening,  and  sheltered  themselves  for  the  night  under  the  bushes 
which  grew  along  the  shore.  As  soon  as  they  were  quiet,  the 
hunters  in  pirogues  paddled  slowly  up  the  stream,  the  steersman 
holding  aloft  a  burning  torch  of  dried  hickory  bark,  by  the  light 
of  which  the  deer  was  discovered  and  fired  on.  If  the  shot  was 
successful,  the  party  landed,  skinned  the  animal,  hung  the  car- 
cass to  a  tree,  to  be  brought  home  in  the  morning,  and  then 
proceeded  to  hunt  more  game."  Fire-hunting  must  have  been  a 
"beautiful  spectacle  to  the  women  and  children  watching  it  from 
the  Monument  Avenue  bank  of  the  Miami. 

"Women  helped  their  husbands  and  brothers  in  all  possible 
-ways  in  those  days,  even  when  used  to  town  life  in  the  East.  If 
extra  work  out-of-doors  was  needed,  the  wife  or  daughter  would 
be  called  on  to  aid,  and  sometimes  they  would  assist  in  planting 
and  hoeing  the  corn  and  raking  the  grain  or  hay  in  harvest.  All 
was  country  in  Dayton  ninety-five  years  ago,  in  spite  of  four  or 
five  cabins  on  the  town  plat.  "W.  D.  Howells,  speaking  of  his 
father's  sympathetic  account  of  pioneer  life,  says  "He  did  not 
deceive  himself  concerning  the  past.     He  knew  that  it  was  often 


6o  EARLY   DAYTON 

rude  and  hard  and  coarse ;  but  under  the  rough  and  sordid  aspect 
he  was  aware  of  the  warm  heart  of  humanity  in  which,  quite  as 
much  as  in  the  brain,  all  civility  lies."  In  1804-1810,  when 
one-roomed  log  cabins  began  to  give  way  to  neat  dwellings  of 
several  rooms,  and  new  settlers  built  brick  buildings  for  country 
stores,  their  educated  and  well-bred  wives  used  to  aid  them  by 
molding  candles  and  making  ginger  cakes,  rolls,  root-beer,  and 
other  articles  for  sale. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  our  history  settlers'  families  were  often 
dependent  upon  the  father's  gun  for  a  breakfast  or  dinner,  and 
hunting  was  oftener  an  occupation  than  an  amusement.  Deer 
and  bears  were  killed  in  large  numbers  for  both  their  pelts  and 
flesh,  and  the  bears  also  for  their  oil.  Deerskin  was  made  into 
men's  clothes  and  moccasins,  and  bearskins  were  used  as  rugs 
and  coverlets.  The  meat,  and  also  that  of  wild  birds,  was 
salted  and  eaten  as  we  eat  dried  beef.  Racoon  skins  were  in 
demand  for  winter  caps.  Pelts  of  various  kinds  were  used 
instead  of  money. 

There  was  little  money  in  circulation,  and  business  in  the 
Northwest  Territory  was  chiefly  conducted  by  barter  of  articles 
that  were  easily  transported  on  packhorses,  such  as  ginseng, 
peltries,  and  beeswax,  which  had  fixed  values.  A  muskrat  skin 
passed  for  twenty -five  cents  ;  a  buckskin  for  one  dollar ;  a  doe- 
skin for  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents ;  a  bearskin  for  from  three  to  five 
dollars ;  a  pair  of  cotton  stockings  cost  a  buckskin ;  a  yard  of 
calico  cost  two  muskrat  skins  ;  a  set  of  knives  and  forks,  a  bear- 
skin ;  a  yard  of  shirting,  a  doeskin  ;  a  pair  of  moccasins,  a  coon- 
skin,  or  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents.  The  want  of  small  change 
led  the  pioneers  of  the  Ohio  Valley  to  invent  what  was  called  cut- 
money,  or  sharp  shins.  They  cut  small  coins,  chiefly  Spanish, 
into  quarters,  and  circulated  them  as  readily  as  money  that  had 
not  been  tampered  with.  American  merchants  had  not  yet 
learned  to  use  the  United  States  currency,  and  their  charges  were 
in  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  In  1799  H3'Son  tea  was  sixteen 
shillings  tenpence  per  pound  ;  loaf  sugar,  four  shillings  ;  flour, 
eighteen  shillings  tenpence  per  one  hundred  pounds;  pork, 
eighteen  shillings  ninepence;  beef,  twenty -two  shillings  six- 
pence ;  work,  groceries,  and  dry  goods  were  often  paid  for  in  com 
or  pork. 

The  habits  and  surroundings  of  the  people  were  very  primi- 
tive.   Wildcats  and  panthers  strong  enough  to  carry  ofi"  a  live 


From  a  photograph  in  po^sesaiuu  vi  Mrs.  Joaiab  Gebbart. 

MRS,  JANE  NEWCOM  WILSON. 


From  a  photograph  in  poaaession  of  Mrs.  Josiah  Gebhart. 
XATHANIEL    M'lLSON. 


PIONEER  WPE  6l 

hog  prowled  in  the  surrounding  woods,  and  wolves,  which 
destroyed  stock,  poultry,  and  young  vegetables,  were  shot  b}^ 
moonlight  through  the  chinks  of  the  cabins.  The  wolves  howled 
from  dusk  till  dawn  like  innumerable  dogs,  as  any  one  who  has 
visited  prairie  countries  can  understand. 

An  event  in  the  lives  of  the  people  of  this  region  was  the  build- 
ing, by  Daniel  C.  Cooper,  the  greatest  benefactor  of  early  Dayton, 
on  Rubicon  Creek,  which  ran  through  his  farm,  now  the  site  of 
the  Cash  Register  Works,  of  a  tub-mill  or  "corn-cracker,"  run  by 
water,  which  began  to  be  used  in  the  winter  of  1799-1800.  No 
flour  could  be  obtained,  and  previous  to  this  date  meal  was  ground 
in  hand-mills,  three  or  four  hours  of  tiresome  work  being  neces- 
sary to  grind  enough  to  last  one  small  family  a  single  day.  This 
tub-mill  was  a  rough  affair,  and  the  sides  were  not  inclosed,  but 
settlers  brought  their  corn  to  it  from  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Miami 
Valley,  and  from  up  Mad  Riveras  far  as  Springfield.  Curwen, 
our  first  historian,  says  that  Mr.  Cooper  "  obtained  all  the  custom 
of  town,  and  took  toll  from  the  Trojans  and  Pequods." 

In  the  spring  of  iSoo  the  people  of  Dayton  and  the  surrounding 
country  got  out  logs  and  built  the  first  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Third  streets,  where  Callahan's 
block  now  stands,  D.  C.  Cooper  having  given  two  lots  for  a 
church  and  graveyard.  Before  this  the  Presbyterians  had  held 
services  in  Newcom's  Tavern  or  the  blockhouse.  The  log-cabin 
meeting-house  was  eighteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size,  seven  logs 
high,  and  raised  two  feet  from  the  ground  by  pieces  of  log  placed 
upright  under  each  corner.  The  seats  and  doorsteps  were  logs, 
and  it  had  a  puncheon  floor  and  a  clapboard  roof,  secured  by 
weight  poles.  It  had  no  windows,  but  sufiicient  air  and  light 
entered  by  the  door  and  between  the  logs,  the  chinks  being 
unfilled.  Hazel  bushes  and  small  trees  entirely  hid  it  from  view 
of  passers  up  or  down  Main  Street.  It  was  approached  by  a 
narrow  path,  which   wound   through   the  uncleared  graveyard. 

Dayton  was  originally  in  Hamilton  Count3%  which  included 
the  counties  now  known  as  Montgomery,  Greene,  Clark,  Cham- 
paign, Logan,  and  Shelby,  and  other  territory,  and  was  governed 
by  county  commissioners  and  township  assessors.  Dayton  had 
no  other  government  till  1799,  when  Daniel  C.  Cooper  was  ap- 
pointed justice  of  the  peace.  He  served  three  years  and  seven 
months  and  tried  one  hundred  and  eighteen  cases.  Eighteen  of 
them  were  certified  as  settled  and  the  rest  as  "satisfied." 


62  EARLY  DAYTON 

The  Territorial  law  permitted  the  marriage  "of  male  persons 
of  the  age  of  eighteen  and  female  persons  of  the  age  of  fourteen, 
and  not  nearer  of  kin  than  first  cousins."  But  it  was  necessary 
that  notice  should  be  given,  either  in  writing  posted  at  some  con- 
spicuous place  within  the  township  where  the  woman  resided,  or 
publicly  declared  on  two  days  of  public  worship.  Sometimes  a 
notice  written  on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  signed  "  D.  C.  Cooper, 
Justice  of  the  Peace,"  was  tacked  to  the  trunk  of  a  large  forest 
tree  close  to  a  road.  Early  marriages  were  so  much  the  custom 
that  respectable  parents  saw  with  approbation  young  daughters 
who  at  the  present  day  would  still  be  in  the  school-room  married 
to  men  who  were  mere  boys  in  age.  A  girl  of  fifteen  was  as 
much  a  young  lady  in  1800  as  a  girl  of  twenty  at  the  present  day. 

The  county  expenses  for  1797  were  as  follows:  Assessor, 
James  Brad3%  I5.20,  paid  by  the  treasurer  out  of  the  first  money 
that  came  into  his  hands ;  Cyrus  Osborn,  constable  of  Daj-ton, 
$1.90,  "for  his  trouble  and  attention  in  executing  the  commis- 
sioners' warrant  for  ascertaining  taxable  property."  He  also 
received  "  fifty  cents  for  one  quire  of  paper  used  in  the  aforesaid 
business."  The  commissioners  each  received  $7.50,  and  $14.34 
was  expended  by  the  county  for  stationery.  The  ofiicers  of 
Dayton  Township  in  1798  were  James  Thompson,  constable; 
Daniel  C.  Cooper,  assessor ;  George  Newcom,  collector.  Mr. 
Cooper's  fees  were  $7.20.  Twenty-two  taxpa^'ers  lived  in 
Dayton  in  1798,  and  the  taxes  amounted  to  $29.74.  In  1801 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  appointed  to  make  a  list  of  free  male 
inhabitants  twenty-one  years  old  and  over.  The  danger  of 
attacks  from  Indians,  as  well  as  the  need  of  men  to  clear  lands, 
rendered  it  as  necessary  to  ascertain  how  many  men  in  the 
township  were  able  to  bear  arms  or  wield  an  ax  as  to  learn 
the  names  of  taxpayers  and  the  value  of  their  propertj'.  Mr. 
Van  Cleve  says,  "The  number  of  free  males  over  twenty-one 
years  old,  between  the  two  Miamis,  from  the  south  line  of  the 
township  to  the  head  of  Mad  River  and  the  Great  Miami,  was 
three  hundred  and  eighty-two;  east  of  the  Little  Miami,  less 
than  twenty." 

The  high  hopes  with  which  the  little  bands  of  settlers  had 
made  their  way  through  the  woods  and  by  river  to  Dayton 
seemed  at  first  doomed  to  disappointment,  as  the  following 
quotation  from  a  petition  of  the  settlers  to  Congress,  probably 
written  by  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  about  1802  or  1803,  shows: 


PIONEER  LIFE  63 

"On  the  5th  of  November,  1795,  forty-six  persons  engaged  to 
become  settlers  at  Dayton,  but  from  the  many  difficulties  in 
forming  a  new  settlement  so  far  in  the  wilderness  country,  only 
fifteen  of  these  came  forward,  and  four  others,  making  nineteen 
in  all.  These  settlements  were  formed  by  your  petitioners  a  few 
months  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  when  we  had  no  faith  in 
the  friendship  of  the  savages.  Our  settlement  was  immediately 
on  their  hunting-grounds.  We  were  not  able  to  keep  a  horse 
amongst  us  during  the  first  season  by  reason  of  their  stealing. 
The  scarcity  of  provisions  had  raised  flour  to  nine  dollars  a 
barrel,  and  other  articles  in  proportion,  which  we  had  to  trans- 
port fifty  miles  through  a  wilderness,  clearing  roads,  etc.  Under 
all  these  and  many  more  difficulties  we  labored,  in  hopes  of 
obtaining  our  lands  at  a  low  rate,  and  the  small  gratuity  offered. 
Several  of  your  petitioners  have  not  been  able  to  procure  any 
land ;  others  laid  their  claims  before  the  commissioners  agreeably 
to  the  late  law,  and  purchased  at  two  dollars  per  acre.  We  beg 
leave  to  state  to  your  honorable  body  that  the  proprietors  have 
been  at  vast  expense,  labor,  and  difficulty  in  forming  the  said 
settlement,  and  have  received  no  recompense  nor  privilege  other 
than  subseqvient  settlers ;  that  they  first  opened  a  way  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  country  has  become  populous,  and  the 
United  States  has  received  a  handsome  revenue  from  the  sale  of 
the  lands  ;  that  the  town  of  Dayton  is  purchased  by  a  subsequent 
settler.  We  pray  that  Congress  will  make  us  such  gratuity  in 
lands,  or  deduction  for  payments  for  lands,  or  grant  such  other 
relief  as  our  case  merits." 

Symmes  and  St.  Clair  and  his  associates  had  paid  two-thirds 
of  a  dollar  per  acre  for  land,  and  sold  at  a  small  advance.  But 
the  Government  raised  the  price,  and  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  saj'S  in 
his  diary:  "Mr.  Ludlow,  who  was  one  of  the  proprietors  and 
agent  for  them,  informed  me  that  they  relinquished  their  claim 
on  account  of  the  rising  price  ;  that  they  could  not  affiard  to  pay 
two  dollars." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Daniel  C.  Cooper  became  titular  pro- 
prietor of  the  town  by  purchase  of  preemption  rights  and  agree- 
ments with  the  settlers.  Each  of  the  original  settlers  received  a 
donation  of  an  inlot  and  an  outlot,  which  he  or  his  representative 
drew  at  the  lottery  held  at  the  mouth  of  Mad  River  November  4, 
1795.  When  the  original  proprietors  failed  and  retired,  settlers 
were  obliged  to  pay  two  dollars  an  acre,  one  dollar  for  a  town 
lot,  and  did  it  willingly,  at  the  Cincinnati  land  office  to  secure 
these  "donations."  The  town  nearl}-  died  out  between  1802  and 
1803.  Four  cabins  were  vacant  and  only  five  families  lived 
here — those  of  George  Newcom,  Samuel  Thompson,  John  Welsh, 
Paul  D.  Butler,  and  George  W^estfall.     The  Van  Cleve  brothers 


64  EARIvY   DAYTON 

and  William  Newcom  and  John  Williams  were  farming.  The 
;McClures  and  Arnett  had  moved  away.  But  Mr.  Cooper  brought 
the  town  to  life  again,  and  secured  satisfactory  titles  by  patent 
or  deed.  Mr.  Cooper  made  several  plats  of  the  town  ;  that  of 
1805  provided  for  a  little  park  at  the  intersection  of  Main  and 
Third  streets,  with  a  court-house  in  the  center.  In  1809  he  made 
a  revised  plat  to  conform  to  deeds  and  patents,  and  to  the  plat 
made  by  the  original  proprietors  in  1795,  and  to  this  plat  all 
subsequent  additions  have  been  made.  Prior  to  the  record  of 
this  plat  of  1809,  property  was  seldom  transferred  bj-  deed  ;  the 
county  commissioners  established  a  rule  that  that  party  would 
be  recognized  as  the  owner  of  a  lot  whose  name  appeared 
on  the  plat  opposite  any  lot  number ;  thus,  to  pass  the  title  of 
a  piece  of  property  from  one  person  to  another,  all  that  was 
necessary  was  a  verbal  request  of  the  owner  to  have  the  pur- 
chaser's name  placed  in  the  list  instead  of  his  own.  Of  these 
transactions,  be  they  few  or  manj-,  no  record  has  been  preserved, 
but  instead  of  such  record  a  perfect  list  of  lot  owners  at  the  time 
the  plat  of  1809  was  recorded,  forms  the  basis  of  title  to  all  the 
original  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  lots  of  Dayton. 

At  first,  county  and  township  ofiicers  were  appointed  by  the 
Territorial  governor  and  courts.  In  1802  Ohio  became  a  State, 
and  Montgomery  was  separated  from  Hamilton  County.  Popu- 
lation had  now  increased  till  it  was  thought  best  to  authorize  an 
election  by  the  people  of  additional  ofiicers.  Jerome  Holt,  sheriff" 
of  the  county,  was  directed  to  give  notice  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Dayton  Township  to  convene  at  the  house  of  George  Newcom 
and  proceed  to  elect  by  ballot  a  chairman,  town  clerk,  three  or 
more  trustees  or  managers,  two  or  more  overseers  of  the  poor, 
three  fence- viewers,  two  appx-aisers  of  houses,  a  lister  of  taxable 
property,  a  sufficient  number  of  supervisors  of  roads,  and  one  or 
more  constables.  The  first  county  court  was  opened  in  an  upper 
room  at  Newcom's  July  27  of  this  year.  In  March,  1803,  the  first 
State  Legislature,  at  Chillicothe,  recommended  Dayton  for  the 
county-seat,  and  the  selection  was  confirmed  in  April  by  the  com- 
missioners appointed  to  designate  countj'-seats.  The  half-deserted 
backwoods  village  of  Daj'ton  seemed  an  unpromising  place  for  a 
county-seat.  But  it  was  the  nucleus  of  a  number  of  farming 
settlements,  and  was  the  principal  hamlet  in  the  township.  The 
growth  and  improvement  of  Dayton  was  marked  after  it  became 
the  county-seat.     The  taxes  for  1804  amounted  to  $458.40.     Main 


^.   \\ 


PIONEER  LIFE  65 

Street  was  cleared  to  Warren  Street  in  1804,  and  the  gully  at  the 
Main  and  Third  Street  crossing  filled  with  walnut  logs  cut  in 
the  woods  where  Cathcart's  livery-stable  now  stands. 

This  year  Mr.  Cooper  built  a  sawmill  on  First  Street  and  a 
grist-mill  at  the  head  of  Mill  Street,  to  which  in  1809  he  added 
a  carding-machine.  He  built  a  levee  for  the  protection  of  his 
Mill  Street  property.  At  an  early  date  Mr.  Cooper  employed 
Silas  Broadwell  to  build  a  levee  to  protect  the  western  part  of  the 
town,  agreeing  to  give  him  certain  lots  in  its  vicinity  in  payment 
for  making  it  and  keeping  it  in  repair.  The  levee  began  at 
Wilkinson  Street,  and  ran  west  a  considerable  distance  with  the 
meanderings  of  the  Miami. 

When  Mr.  Cooper  gave  lots  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street, 
opposite  the  Court-house,  for  a  church  and  graveyard,  they 
were  considered  so  far  out  of  the  way  that  it  was  not  supposed 
that  the  town  would  extend  much  beyond  them  ;  but  by  1805 
property  in  that  neighborhood  was  wanted  for  residences  or 
business.  The  log-cabin  meeting-house  was  sold  for  twenty-two 
dollars,  which  became  the  nucleus  of  a  building-fund  for  a  new 
church,  and  the  graveyard  was  plat'ted  and  sold  at  auction  at 
the  Court-house.  Mr.  Cooper  gave  a  new  graveyard  of  four  acres 
at  the  south  side  of  Fifth  Street,  between  Ludlow  and  Wilkinson 
streets,  equal  shares  being  given  to  the  First  Presbyterian  and 
the  Methodist  churches  and  the  town  of  Dayton.  The  new 
Presbyterian  church,  on  Second  and  Ludlow  streets,  was  not 
built  till  1817.  Two  structures  have  succeeded  it — one  of  brick, 
built  in  1839,  and  the  present  stone  church,  built  in  1867.  Till 
the  church  of  1817  was  completed,  the  congregation  held  services 
at  Newcom's,  or  at  McCullum's  new  brick  tavern,  southwest 
corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets,  removing  in  1806  to  the  new 
Court-house. 

Mr.  Cooper  was  deeply  interested  in  the  new  Presbyterian 
church.  When  the  bell  for  the  church  arrived  at  his  store,  south- 
east corner  of  Main  and  First  streets,  in  1818,  he  placed  it  on  a 
wheelbarrow,  and  himself  wheeled  it  to  the  corner  of  Second 
and  Ludlow  streets.  He  over-exerted  himself,  and  burst  a  blood- 
vessel, which  caused  his  death.  He  left  two  sons,  who  both  died 
young  and  withoixt  children.  Mr.  Cooper  won  the  respect  and 
affection  of  all  his  fellow-citizens.  To  no  one  does  the  present 
generation  owe  a  larger  debt  of  gratitude.  When  he  died,  his 
affairs  were  somewhat  involved  ;  but  by  prudent  management 
5 


66 


EARLY  DAYTON 


his  executors,  James  Steele  and  H.  G.  Phillips,  relieved  the  estate 
from  embarrassment,  and  it  henceforth  steadily  increased  in 
value.  Every  improvement  of  this  large  property  benefited 
the  city. 

A  jail  was  built  of  round  logs  in  the  fall  of  1804  on  the  end 
of  the  Third  Street  side  of  the  Court-house  lot.  It  was  thirty 
feet  long,  sixteen  wide,  and  twelve  high,  and  contained  two 
disconnected  cells,  floored  and  ceiled  with  logs.  There  were 
but  three  small  windows  in  the  building,  secured  by  two-inch 
plank  shutters  and  iron  bars,  and  but  two  doors,  also  of  two-inch 
plank,  spiked  and  hung  on  iron  hinges.  The  doors  and  shutters 
were  locked  on  the  outside,  and  the  keys  kept  by  Sheriff  Newcom 
at  his  tavern,  three  squares  off.  During  the  sessions  of  court  at 
the  tavern  a  doorkeeper  was  appointed  to  conduct  prisoners  to 
and  from  the  jail.  This  log  fortress,  which  was  built  for  ^299  by 
David  Squier,  in  two  months,  was  stronger  than  the  blockhouses 
which  did  such  good  service  during  the  Indian  wars,  and 
answered  every  purpose  till  it  became  necessary  that  the  sheriff 
should  live  at  the  jail,  when  one  of  stone  was  erected. 


CHAPTER  IV 

1 800 -1805 

John  W.  Van  Cleve— First  White  Male  Cliild  Born  in  Dayton  — Friendship 
for  R.  W.  Steele  — Biographies  of  Van  Cleve  by  R.  W.  Steele— Minutes 
Kept  and  Societies  Founded  by  Van  Cleve  — His  Exquisite  Handwriting 
—  His  Versatility  and  Thoroughness— Proficiency  in  Ancientand  Modern 
Languages  — Teaches  Latin  at  College  Before  Graduation— Talent  for 
Mathematics  — Translations  — Water-Color  Pictures  of  Wild  Flowers  — A 
True  Book-Lover— Studies  Law  — Edits  the  Dayton  Journal  — In  the  Drug 
Business— Devotes  Himself  to  Labors  for  the  Public  Good  — A  Civil  Engi- 
neer—An Engraver— Talent  for  Painting— Plays  Several  Musical  Instru- 
ments—A Botanist  and  Geologist— To  Him  We  Owe  Woodland  Cemetery 
—Love  of  Plants  and  Trees  — Plants  the  Levees  with  Trees  — Surrounds 
the  Court-House  with  Elms  — Fondness  for  Children  — Delightful  Picnics 
-His  Great  Size— Interest  in  Schools  and  Libraries  — Founder  and 
Supporter  of  Dayton  Library  Association  — Free  Lectures  on  Scientific, 
Historical,  or  Literary  Subjects  — Afl"ection  and  Pride  with  Which  He 
was  Regarded  —  Devotion  to  His  Kindred  — Friendship  Between  Him 
and  His  Father— Public  Offices  in  Town  that  He  Held  — His  Map  of 
Dayton  — Writes  Songs  and  Designs  and  Engraves  Illustrations  for  the 
Log  Cabin— Ihe  Whig  Glee  Club  Trained  by  Professor  Turpin  — Mr.  Van 
Cleve  and  Others  Accompany  the  Club  to  the  Columbus  Convention  — 
His  Death— His  Unbending  Integrity  and  Scrupulous  Honesty  — Council 
Passes  Resolutions  of  Respect  — Dr.  T.  E.  Thomas's  Funeral  Oration  — 
Isaac  Spining  — William  King  — The  Osborns  — John  H.  Williams— The 
First  Postoffice  in  Dayton  —  Mail-Routes— Post-Rider  to  Urbana— Trials  of 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  First  Postmaster— His  Successor,  George  S.  Houston 
—Joseph  Peirce— Joseph  H.  Crane  — Colonel  Robert  Patterson  — Schools  — 
Dayton  Incorporated- McCullum's  Tavern— Social  Library  Society. 

Our  early  history  would  be  incomplete  without  some  account 
of  John  W.  Van  Cleve,  the  first  male  cliild  born  in  Dayton,  and 
who  became  locally  noted  for  literary,  scientific,  and  artistic 
attainments,  and  for  life-long,  unsalaried  work  for  the  public 
good.  He  was  the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary  Whitten  Van 
Cleve,  and  was  born  June  27,  iSoi.  From  the  writings  and  con- 
versation of  the  two  Van  Cleves,  and  from  the  files  of  Dayton 
newspapers,  commencing  with  the  first  paper  published  here, 
preserved  by  them  and  presented  to  the  Public  Library  by  the 
son,  Maskell  E.  Curwen,  Ashley  Brown,  Robert  W.  Steele,  and 
others  obtained  the  greater  part  of  the  material  for  their  histories 

67 


68  EARLY   DAYTON 

of  Dayton.  During  his  last  illness,  J.  W.  Van  Cleve  explained 
to  R.  W.  Steele,  a  younger  man  but  congenial  friend,  who,  from 
his  youth,  had  devoted  himself  to  disinterested  philanthropic 
and  educational  labors,  his  plans  for  the  benefit  of  his  beloved 
native  city,  and  placed  in  his  hands  constitutions,  reports,  and 
minutes  of  various  societies,  of  which  Mr.  Yan  Cleve  had  been 
the  animating  spirit  and  usually  the  founder ;  and  Mr.  Steele 
constituted  himself  the  biographer  and  eulogist  of  Mr.  Van 
Cleve,  sketching  his  portrait,  with  all  the  literary  skill  and 
sympathetic  touches  at  his  command,  in  a  number  ot  publica- 
tions. It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  he  did  not  collect  and 
combine  in  an  elaborate  biography  the  facts  in  regard  to  his 
friend  which  he  scattered  through  several  articles ;  but  it  was 
his  nature  to  sow  broadcast  with  a  liberal  hand,  regardless  of 
personal  considerations. 

The  minutes  kept  by  John  W.  Van  Cleve  were  written  in  an 
exquisitely  beautiful  hand,  which,  like  his  father's,  was  as 
legible  as  copper-plate;  so  that  it  seemed  a  desecration  for  an 
inferior  penman  to  make  an  entrj^  in  the  books.  The  minutes  of 
the  Montgomery  County  Horticultural  Society,  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  founders,  he  decorated  with  a  water-color  painting  of 
a  large,  richly  tinted  peach  on  a  branch,  with  leaves  clustering 
about  it.  He  was  interested  in  agriculture,  introduced  modern 
methods  and  machinery  on  his  farm,  and  tried  many  experi- 
ments, endeavoring,  among  other  things,  to  make  raisins  from 
his  grapes. 

Benjamin  Van  Cleve  determined  that  his  only  son  should  enjoy 
the  intellectual  and  moral  training  and  affectionate  parental 
supervision  of  which  he  himself  had  been  deprived.  His  boy 
responded  to  all  his  attempts  to  guide  and  instruct  him,  and 
more  than  answered  his  expectations.  The  son  inherited  the 
father's  methodical,  industrious,  and  persevering  habits,  and 
his  faculty  of  attaining  by  his  own  efforts  what  he  had  no 
opportunity  of  learning  from  others.  He  was  remarkable  for 
both  versatility  and  thoroughness,  and  might  have  been  de- 
scribed in  the  broadest  sense  as  an  all-round  man,  but  for  a  slight 
lack  of  development  of  the  imaginative  and  emotional  side  of 
his  nature.  He  must  have  been  largely  self-taught,  for  sixty  or 
seventy  years  ago  teachers  of  accomplishments,  or  of  anything 
outside  the  ordinary  branches  of  education,  were  not  to  be 
obtained  in  Ohio.      The  journey  to  Eastern  centers  of  culture 


,     I800-I805  69 

was  long  and  expensive.  Specially  talented  young  people  did 
not,  as  is  now  customary,  spend  a  winter  or  two  in  New  York 
or  Boston  engaged  in  literar}^  scientific,  or  artistic  study. 

John  Van  Cleve  was  a  born  scholar,  endowed  with  a  vigorous 
intellect,  remarkable  memory,  and  a  facility  for  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  both  mathematics  and  languages.  When  but  ten 
years  old,  his  father  wrote  of  him,  "  My  son  John  is  now  study- 
ing Latin,  and  promises  to  become  a  fine  scholar."  He  entered 
the  Ohio  University  at  Athens,  of  which  his  father  was  a  trustee, 
when  he  was  sixteen,  and  acquired  so  high  a  reputation  for 
scholarship  that  before  his  graduation  he  was  employed  as  a 
teacher  of  both  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  college.  He  began  to 
teach  Latin  in  1817,  his  first  year  at  college.  Writing  to  ask  his 
father's  permission  to  teach,  he  says  :  "I  think  it  would  inform, 
me  in  the  Latin  a  great  deal.  I  believe  with  one  month's  practice 
now  in  speaking  the  Latin  I  could  speak  very  nearly  as  freel}-  in 
it  as  I  can  in  English."  In  1819  he  taught  Greek  and  Latin  sev- 
eral hours  a  day  without  interfering  with  his  own  lessons  in  his 
class.  The  regular  work  was  so  insufficient  for  him  that  the  pro- 
fessors volunteered  to  give  him  advanced  instruction  out  of 
college  hours.  He  was  equally  proficient  in  mathematics,  and 
wrote  from  the  Ohio  University  to  his  father,  "I  consider  Euclid 
the  most  pleasing  stud}-  I  ever  undertook,  and  find  no  difficulty 
in  understanding  the  propositions."  In  another  letter  he  says 
that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  keep  along  with  his  class ;  it 
would  have  been  more  correct  to  say  that  his  class  could  not  keep 
up  with  him.  Between  three  and  five  problems  of  Euclid  each 
day  were  all  that  was  required  of  students.  Mr.  Van  Cleve  was 
not  satisfied  with  such  eas}^  work,  and  obtained  permission  to 
learn  fifteen  problems  daily. 

Mr.  R.  W.  Steele  says:  "I  recollect  that,  when  Colborn's 
'  Intellectual  Arithmetic '  was  first  introduced  here,  the  late 
John  W.  Van  Cleve,  an  accomplished  and  noted  man  in  his  dav, 
told  me  that  he  went  through  the  book  at  a  sitting  with  great 
pleasixre.  How  idle  it  would  be  to  advise  everj'body  to  take  up 
and  read  Colborn's  arithmetic  as  a  pleasant  recreation  !  Mr.  Van 
Cleve  was  a  man  of  decided  taste  for  mathematics,  and  before 
Colborn  we  had  no  intellectual  arithmetic  or  anal3'sis  in  our 
schools,  which  accounts  for  his  pleasure  in  the  book." 

After  leaving  college  Mr.  Van  Cleve  studied  French  and  Ger- 
man, translating  from  the  latter  language  the  first  volume  of 


70  EARLY   DAYTON 

Goldfuss  and  Schiller's  "Robbers,"  and  a  number  of  plays  and 
fairy  tales.  He  copied  the  fair}^  tales  with  his  own  hand  into  a 
pretty  volume,  which  he  presented  to  a  little  girl.  To  another 
young  lady  friend  he  gave  a  volume  of  water-color  pictures  of 
the  wild  flowers  of  Montgomery  County,  writing  the  botanical 
name  below  each  picture.  The  flowers  are  as  remarkable  for 
scientific  accuracy  of  form  and  coloring  as  for  artistic  beauty. 
Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  a  true  book-lover,  and  gradually  collected  a 
good  library.  He  subscribed  for  the  American  and  foreign 
magazines,  and  it  was  probably  the  translations  and  critical  and 
biographical  articles  in  these  magazines  that  led  him  to  study 
German — a  language  neglected  by  English-speaking  students 
till  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  As  there  was  no 
teacher  of  modern  languages  in  Dayton,  he  taught  himself  Ger- 
man and  French.  He  contributed  to  a  number  of  periodicals.  In 
most  directions  he  was  a  generous  man,  but  he  was  almost 
miserly  when  his  beloved  books  were  concerned.  He  would 
only  lend  to  those  whom  he  thought  genuinely  interested  in 
literature,  and  from  each  one  he  exacted  a  promise,  entered  in  a 
ledger  under  his  name  and  the  date,  that  the  book  should  be 
returned  in  good  condition  on  a  specified  da}'.  If  the  promise 
was  not  kept,  the  borrower  received  a  notification  of  his  remiss- 
ness, which  was  repeated  with  the  addition  of  a  sharp  reprimand, 
till  the  work  was  safely  restored  to  his  shelves.  A  number  of 
his  books  are  in  the  possession  of  his  relations.  Some  of  his 
volumes,  enriched  by  marginal  notes  in  his  own  hand,  are  in 
the  Public  Librarj'.  Occasionally  he  bound,  or  rebound,  a 
volume  himself  in  heavy  leather,  preservation,  and  not  beauty, 
being  his  aim.  He  intended  to  write  a  history  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  and  made  some  preparation  for  the  never-really-under- 
taken book.  His  memoranda  jotted  down  for  this  purpose,  and 
his  notes  on  his  general  reading,  book  lists,  and  private  accounts, 
are  as  beautiful  and  exquisitely  neat  as  if  intended  for  exhibi- 
tion, and  not  merely  for  his  own  eye.  Among  his  manuscripts 
are  letters  from  distinguished  scientists  with  whom  he  corre- 
sponded. 

When  he  returned  from  college,  he  studied  law  with  Judge 
Joseph  H.  Crane,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1828 ;  but  he 
did  not  find  the  practice  of  the  law  congenial,  and  in  December, 
1828,  he  abandoned  the  legal  profession  and  purchased  an  interest 
in  the  Dayton  Journal,  which  he  edited  till  1834.     In  the  latter 


I800-I805  "Jl 

year  he  entered  into  partnership  in  the  drug  business  with 
Augustus  Newell,  furnishing  the  capital,  but  leaving  the  control 
of  the  concern  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Newell. 

In  185 1,  as  he  possessed  what  was  a  competency  for  an  unmar- 
ried man,  Mr.  Van  Cleve  retired  from  business  and  devoted 
himself  with  the  most  indefatigable  industry  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  to  study  and  art  and  the  promotion  of  whatever  would  benefit 
and  adorn  his  native  city.  He  became  an  accomplished  musician, 
painter,  engraver,  civil  engineer,  botanist,  and  geologist.  He 
had  very  decided  talent  for  painting,  and  did  excellent  work  in 
oils  and  water-colors,  though  he  probably  never  took  a  lesson  in 
either.  One  of  his  most  interesting  water-colors  is  a  painting  of 
the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  between  Second  and  Third  streets, 
as  it  was  in  1855,  which  he  gave  to  Miss  Martha  Holt.  Mrs. 
Thomas  Dover  has  three  oil  landscapes,  one  of  them  being  painted 
for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  very  tall  and  magnificent  tree 
in  the  foreground,  the  river  and  sawmill  behind  it  playing  a 
subordinate  part.  Mrs.  Dover  also  has  a  number  of  water-color 
sketches  of  river  scenery  and  seven  or  eight  pictures  of  peaches 
of  different  varieties,  one  on  each  card.  INIr.  Van  Cleve  said  he 
first  painted  their  portraits  and  then  ate  them.  He  gathered 
them,  no  doubt,  from  his  own  trees. 

He  played  well  on  several  instruments.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  was  organist  of  Christ  Episcopal  Church.  In  1823  the  Pleyel 
Society,  the  first  Dayton  musical  society,  was  formed,  and  he  was 
elected  president.  He  gave  much  time  to  the  study  of  botany 
and  geology,  and  collected  a  cabinet  of  fossils  of  this  neighbor- 
hood, which  he  presented  by  will  to  the  High  School.  Several 
sheets  of  the  fossils  of  the  Dayton  limestone  engraved  by  him 
are  preserved  at  the  Dayton  Public  L,ibrary.  These  engravings 
have  been  published  in  the  Indiana  Geological  Reports.  He 
made  a  complete  herbarium  of  the  plants  indigenous  to  this 
region,  which  at  his  death  he  gave  to  Cooper  Female  Seminar3\ 
No  care  was  taken  of  either  his  cabinet  or  herbarium.  The 
remains  of  them  are  at  the  Public  Library  and  ]\Iuseum.  He 
corresponded  and  exchanged  specimens  with  scientists  all  over 
the  United  States.  His  list  of  trees  growing  in  Woodland  Cem- 
etery in  1843  is  interesting  to  botanists. 

To  him  we  owe  Woodland  Cemetery,  the  third  in  order  of  time 
of  the  rural  cemeteries  opened  in  the  United  States.  He  sug- 
gested that  the  beautiful  grounds,  now  the  pride  of  Dayton, 


72  EARLY  DAYTON 

should  be  secured  and  improved  for  that  purpose,  and  persistently- 
carried  the  project  through  to  completion.  The  cemetery  was 
laid  out,  the  roads  run,  the  platting  done,  the  accounts  kept,  by 
this  skilled  surveyor  and  bookkeeper,  and  all  the  duties  of  a 
superintendent  performed  by  him,  without  compensation,  during 
the  earlier  years  of  its  history.  He  was  president  of  the  associa- 
tion till  his  death. 

For  no  one  could  a  park  be  more  appropriately  named  than  for 
such  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature  and  his  fellow-men  as 
John  Van  Cleve.  The  onlj-  thing  else  in  Dayton  called  for  him 
is  a  street  which  runs  through  what  was  once  a  part  of  his  model 
farm.  "When  the  levees  were  built,  or  enlarged,  he  obtained  sub- 
scriptions from  citizens,  heading  the  list  himself,  to  purchase  and 
plant  trees  on  both  sides  of  the  levees,  without  expense  to  the 
city.  At  first,  elms  were  planted  on  the  river  side  and  maples  on 
the  other  side.  Afterwards  silver-leaf  poplars,  recently  intro- 
duced, and  then  much  admired,  were  also  vSet  out.  He  planted 
the  trees  himself.  The  little  granddaughter  of  a  pioneer  used  to 
accompany  him,  and  note  down  from  his  dictation,  in  his 
memorandum-book,  under  the  proper  date,  the  variety  of  tree 
planted  and  its  exact  position. 

He  knew  the  name  of  nearly  ever}-  plant  and  tree  within 
Montgomery  Count}^  and  in  what  locality  they  could  be  found. 
Through  his  influence  the  early  residents  of  Daj'ton  felt  a 
special  interest  and  pride  in  the  flowers  and  trees  of  the  sur- 
rounding woods  and  prairies.  He  loved  to  bring  home  from  his 
botanical  excursions  elegant  shrubs  or  rare  flowering  plants, 
which,  as  he  lived  at  an  hotel,  he  presented  to  friends,  setting 
them  out  himself  in  their  5'ards.  It  would  have  seemed  to  him 
a  cruel  act  to  transplant  them  from  their  congenial  country 
home,  and  allow  them  to  pine  or  die  from  careless  or  ignorant 
treatment.  He  would  have  sympathized  with  the  saying  of 
Montaigne  that  "there  is  a  certain  rCvSpect  and  general  duty 
of  humanity  that  ties  us,  not  only  to  beasts,  that  have  life  and 
sense,  but  even  to  trees  and  plants."  Had  he  had  the  making 
of  the  constitution  of  the  Humane  Society,  it  would  have 
included  the  protection  of  trees  as  well  as  of  women,  children, 
and  animals.  Many  a  noble  forest  tree  did  he  save  from  destruc- 
tion or  mutilation  b3'  his  entreaties.  About  1850  he  planted  elms 
on  Main  and  Third  streets,  along  the  sidewalks  of  the  Court-house 
lots.     He  wished  his  native  place  to  be  as  beautiful  as  the  elm- 


1 800-1805  73 

embowered  New  England  towns,  and  thought  these  glorious 
trees  would  keep  his  memory  as  a  public  benefactor  green  for 
generations ;  but  his  ungrateful  fellow-citizens,  as  soon  as  his 
elms  began  to  fulfill  his  expectations,  chopped  them  down. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  fond  of  children  and  they  loved  him.  On 
many  a  pleasant  spring,  summer,  or  autumn  morning  he  might 
have  been  seen  leading  a  little  company  on  foot,  or  to  take  the 
cars  to  the  woods  for  an  all-day  picnic.  He  wanted  the  children  to 
himself,  and  no  grown  people  were  invited.  He  had  some  eccen- 
tricities, which,  however,  only  excited  a  pleasurable  awe  and 
curiosity.  The  children  were  not  permitted,  for  instance,  to  ask 
what  time  it  was.  He  either  made  no  reply  to  such  a  question 
or  answered  that  it  was  not  polite,  and  a  reflection  upon  his  power 
of  entertaining  them,  and  that,  at  any  rate,  children  had  no 
business  to  think  or  know  anything  about  time.  He  would 
sometimes  suddenly  put  his  hand  within  his  shirt-bosom  and 
draw  out  what  he  called  "a  beautiful,  harmless  little  garter- 
snake,"  dropping  it,  perhaps,  into  a  girl's  lap.  If  she  had  the 
tact  or  nerve  not  to  scream,  she  was  henceforth  one  of  his  prime 
favorites.  When  he  took  children  to  the  woods,  he  knew  where 
to  find  quantities  of  wild  flowers,  mushrooms,  nuts,  elderberries, 
May-apples,  haws,  papaws, — "nature's  custard," — persimmons, 
slipper3'-elm,  spicevvood,  sassafras,  etc.,  and  these  wild  things 
gathered  and  commended  by  him  had  a  flavor  with  which  the 
liveliest  imagination  could  not  now  invest  them.  He  led  you  to 
the  clearest  and  coolest  moss-bordered  springs,  and  his  eye  was 
quick  to  see  beautiful  and  grotesque  dead  or  growing  shrubs  and 
trees,  birds,  squirrels,  and  every  lovely  living  thing;  and  a 
pause  was  always  made  to  enjoy  a  fine  view  or  landscape.  In 
his  botany  box  he  carried,  besides  other  luncheon,  small  pieces 
of  beefsteak,  one  for  each  member  of  the  party.  These  he 
transfixed  with  snow-white  twigs  from  which  he  had  peeled  the 
bark,  and  then,  arranging  the  children  in  front  of  a  blazing  fire 
he  had  built,  showed  them  how  to  hold  the  twigs  so  as  to  cook 
their  steak  in  the  delicious  fashion  of  their  pioneer  ancestors.  If 
it  was  the  proper  season  for  wild  grapes,  clusters  were  squeezed 
into  a  bright  new  tincup,  mixed  with  sugar  and  water,  and  the 
beverage  drunk  in  turn  by  each  of  the  party. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  a  giant  in  size  —  tall,  of  large  frame,  and 
weighing  over  three  hundred  pounds.  Once,  wdien  making  a 
call  on  a  friend,  the  five-year-old  son  of  his  host,  after  walking 


74  EARLY  DAYTON 

round  him  several  times,  observing  him  curiousl3%  stopped  in 
front  of  him,  and  said,  "Mr.  Van  Cleve,  when  you  was  a  little 
boy,  was  you  a  little  bo}-?"  Though  usually  sensitive  about 
his  size,  he  laughed,  and  took  this  as  a  good  joke.  Hits  at 
prominent  citizens  were  freely  indulged  in  in  the  old-fashioned 
New- Year's  address,  brought  to  every  door  for  sale  on  the  ist  of 
January.     In  one  of  the  ' '  addresses ' '  appeared  this  rhyme : 

"If  all  flesh  Is  grass,  as  the  Scriptures  say, 
Then  Van  Cleve  would  make  a  load  of  hay." 

He  was  the  first  male  child  bom  in  Dayton,  and,  being  of  very 
great  size,  was  often  pointed  out  to  strangers  as  a  specimen  of 
what  Da3-ton  could  produce. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  warmly  interested  in  libraries  and  schools, 
and  gave  liberally  of  time  and  money  to  both.  He  preserved  and 
presented  to  the  Public  Library  the  records  of  the  old  Dayton 
Academy,  from  which  all  the  early  school  history  of  Daj-ton  was 
obtained.  In  the  later  3'ears  of  its  history  he  was  connected  with 
our  first  library,  incorporated  in  1805.  He  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers, in  1847,  of  the  Dayton  Library  Association,  now  merged  in 
the  Public  School  Librar}-.  During  the  rest  of  his  life  the  library 
was  one  of  the  objects  in  which  he  was  most  interested.  He  pre- 
sented to  it  valuable  newspapers,  minutes,  magazines,  and  books, 
served  as  an  ofiicer  of  the  association,  and  assisted  in  selecting 
the  first  volumes  that  were  purchased.  "The  list  numbered  but 
little  over  one  thousand  volumes,  but  the  books  were  Charles 
Lamb's  'books  that  are  books.'  "  Whenever  a  public  entertain- 
ment was  gotten  up  for  the  benefit  of  literary  or  philanthropic 
objects,  jNIr.  Van  Cleve  was  an  active  promoter  of  the  undertak- 
ing. He  frequentlj'  lectured  on  scientific,  historical,  or  literary 
subjects  in  the  courses  provided  by  the  Mechanics'  Institute  and 
the  Dayton  Library  Association. 

He  did  a  work  for  Dayton  of  the  kind  that  only  a  highly 
cultivated  man  of  leisure  can  accomplish.  His  fellow-citizens 
appreciated  his  efforts  and  regarded  him  with  pride,  respect,  and 
love.  At  the  present  day,  many  who  were  not  grown  when  he 
died,  but  to  whom  he  had  been  kind  and  helpful  in  their  child- 
hood, never  think  of  him  without  a  glow  of  affection,  admira- 
tion, and  gratitude. 

He  was  warmly  attached  to  his  kindred,  even  when  not  nearly 
related,  and  any  one  with  Van  Cleve  blood  in  his  veins  was  sure 


1 800-1805  75 

of  a  cordial  reception  from  him,  even  if  not  very  congenial  in 
character  or  pursuits.  Though  undemonstrative  and  even  some- 
what cold  in  manner,  he  was  a  most  affectionate  son,  brother,  and 
uncle.  His  letters  from  college  reveal  the  delightful  relations 
existing  between  the  son  and  his  father.  There  is  about  them  a 
tone  of  frankness,  siniplicit}-,  certainty  of  comprehension  and 
sympathy,  of  good  comradeship  and  intimate  friendship,  that 
gives  one  a  pleasant  impression  of  both  the  man  and  the  boy. 
Ambitious  of  distinction  and  fond  of  stud}'  though  John  Van  Cleve 
was,  in  1S19,  when  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  overweighted  with 
financial  cares  and  anxieties,  John  urged  his  father  to  allow  him 
to  leave  college  and  come  home  and  help  in  the  business.  This 
request  was  not  granted,  and  the  boy  was  moreover  told  that 
affairs  were  in  better  condition  than  his  solicitude  for  his  family 
had  led  him  to  imagine  them  to  be.  He  alwaj's  every  Sunday 
spent  the  afternoon  and  took  tea  with  one  of  his  sisters.  He  was 
not  what  is  called  a  great  talker,  and  often,  after  a  little  domestic 
chat,  would  draw  a  magazine  or  book  from  his  pocket  and  soon 
become  absorbed  in  reading.  His  sisters'  children  were  very 
fond  of  him,  and  he  did  a  great  deal  for  their  pleasure  and  profit, 
lending  them  books,  awakening  their  intelligence,  and  increasing 
their  fund  of  knowledge  b}-  conversing  with  them.  At  the  time, 
however,  they  only  thought  of  the  enjoyment  his  visits  afforded 
them,  and  of  how  delightful  it  was  to  have  him  with  them.  It 
was  he  himself  they  cared  for,  not  what  he  might  give  them,  or 
what  benefit  they  might  derive  from  association  with  him. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  elected  recorder  in  1824  and  1828;  served  for 
three  terms  as  Mayor — in  1830,  183 1,  and  1832,  and  was  several 
times  city  engineer.  For  a  number  of  j'ears  he  was  connected 
with  the  volunteer  fire  department — placed  in  command  by 
Council.  In  1S39  he  compiled  and  lithographed  a  map  of  the 
-cit}-,  and  in  1849  ^  city  map  in  book  form,  renumbering  the 
various  plats  and  lots  unplatted  in  1839. 

He  was  an  enthtisiastic  Whig,  and  a  warm  supporter  of  Har- 
rison in  1840.  When  R.  N.  and  W.  F.  Comly  published  the  Log' 
Cabin,  a  Harrison  campaign  paper,  famous  all  over  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Van  Cleve  wrote  many  of  the  songs,  and  designed 
and  engraved  the  illustrations  and  caricatures  that  appeared  in 
it.  He  had  a  grim  sense  of  humor,  and  sometimes  indulged  in 
practical  jokes  that  did  not  seem  laughable  to  others.  Professor 
James   Turpin,   a  musician  of  reputC;   and  a  generous,  public- 


76  EARI.Y   DAYTON 

spirited  man,  who  v/as  highly  esteemed,  both  professionally  and 
socially,  composed  the  accompaniments  for  the  campaign  songs. 
Mr.  Van  Cleve  and  Mr.  Turpin  worked  together  in  the  latter's 
parlor,  musician  and  writer  making  mutual  changes  and  conces- 
sions. Mr.  Turpin  and  Mr.  Van  Cleve  had  formed  and  trained  a 
Whig  Glee  Club.  The  club  and  a  large  number  of  other  citizens 
attended  the  mammoth  Harrison  convention  held  at  Columbus, 
where  Mr.  Van  Cleve's  songs,  as  sung  under  Professor  Turpin's 
leadership  by  Dayton  singers,  were  received  with  wild  enthusi- 
asm and  prolonged  applause.  The  Dayton  delegation  traveled  in 
stage-coaches,  decorated  profusely  with  Harrison  emblems,  and 
during  both  the  journey  and  the  stay  in  Columbus,  where  the 
club  was  crowded  into  one  bedroom,  the  "fun  was  fast  and 
furious"  ;  jokes,  and  quips,  and  ridiculous  tricks,  and  ever3-thing 
that  could  promote  hilarity  or  increase  political  excitement, 
always  at  fever  heat  during  that  remarkable  campaign,  were  en- 
couraged and  indulged  in. 

Mr.  Van  Cleve  died,  unmarried,  of  consumption,  September 
6,  1858,  after  a  long  illness,  which  he  bore  with  the  greatest 
courage  and  patience.  One  of  his  closest  associates  wrote  of 
him  :  "A  striking  trait  of  his  character  was  his  unbending  integ- 
rity. His  scrupulous  honesty  was  so  well  known  and  appreciated 
that  he  was  frequently  selected  for  the  discharge  of  the  most 
responsible  trusts. ' '  His  death  at  the  comparatively  earl 3-  age  of 
fifty-seven  was  regarded  as  a  public  calamit}-.  Although  he  held  no 
ofi&cial  position  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  City  Council  adopted 
resolutions  of  respect  for  his  memory  and  of  appreciation  of  his 
great  services  to  the  city.  The  funeral  took  place  at  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  which  was  crowded  with  sincere  mourners. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Thomas  delivered  a  magnificent  funeral 
oration  of  the  kind  for  which  he  was  so  famous,  drawing  a 
graphic  portrait  of  Mr.  Van  Cleve,  his  talents,  acquirements, 
and  character,  and  comparing  him  to  a  dead  lion. 

Three  important  accessions  were  made  to  the  Dayton  set- 
tlement, in  1800,  iSoi,  and  1802,  in  Isaac  Spining,  William 
King,  and  John  H.  Williams,  afterwards  closel}^  related  by 
marriage,  and  who  settled  in  the  neighborhood  now  known  as 
the  West  Side.  The  name  of  Judge  Spining  constantly  occurs  in 
connection  with  public  affairs  in  Dayton.  He  emigrated  from 
New  Jersey  to  the  West  in  1796,  and  a  few  years  later  located  on  a 
farm  three  miles  west  of  Davton.     His  sons,  Pierson,  Charles  H., 


1 800-1805  77 

and  George  B.,  were  all  citizens  of  note,  the  first  in  Springfield 
and  the  other  two  in  Dayton.  Mr.  Pierson  Spining,  before 
removing  to  Springfield,  was  in  business  in  Middletown.  There 
is  a  stor}'  connected  with  the  goods  he  was  selling  at  Middletown 
which  illustrates  his  father's  business  talent  and  the  pluck  and 
enterprise  of  early  times.  Judge  Spining,  before  1812,  "built  a 
flatboat  near  the  head  of  Main  Street  on  the  river  front.  This 
boat  was  loaded  with  flour,  and  with  Judge  Spining  as  captain 
floated  to  New  Orleans.  Flour  was  dull  in  that  city,  and  the 
Judge  shipped  his  cargo  from  that  point  to  Boston,  taking  pas- 
sage in  the  vessel  which  bore  his  produce.  He  sold  his  flour  and 
purchased  in  Philadelphia  for  his  son  the  goods  which  made  up 
the  assortment  at  the  Middletown  store.  The  Judge  was  six 
months  in  making  the  round  trip  from  Dayton  to  New  Orleans, 
Philadelphia,  and  return." 

The  son  Pierson  married,  at  Daj^ton,  in  1812,  Miss  Mary 
Schooley,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  probably  made  while  a 
clerk  in  the  store  of  H.  G.  Phillips.  Miss  Phebe  Peirce,  married 
the  same  year  to  James  Steele,  was  Miss  Schooley's  bridesmaid. 
Mrs.  Pierson  Spining  was  born  in  1790  in  New  Jersey,  and 
brought,  when  an  infant,  to  Columbia,  near  Cincinnati.  Here 
the  family  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  and  when  the  children  attended 
school  they  were  often,  as  a  protection  against  Indians,  sent 
home  with  an  escort  of  soldiers.  As  an  indication  of  the  fear- 
less and  adventurous  spirit  of  the  pioneer  women,  it  is  said  of 
Mrs.  Spining  that  she  made  "frequent  trips  from  Springfield  to 
Cincinnati  on  horseback,  her  mother's  family  living  in  Springdale, 
in  Hamilton  County.  On  one  occasion  she  took  her  infant  child 
as  the  companion  of  her  journey.  At  another  time  she  found 
Mill  Creek  booming.  Getting  the  range  of  the  ford,  she  boldly 
rode  in,  her  horse  swam  across  the  turbulent  stream,  and  she 
continued  her  excursion  to  Cincinnati,  arriving  there  without 
further  peril  in  flood  or  field."  In  1863  she  removed  to  Dayton, 
where  she  lived  till  she  was  over  fourscore. 

Judge  Spining  has  several  descendants  living  here.  Among 
them  may  be  mentioned  Mrs.  Louisa  King,  Mrs.  Jennie  S.  Mul- 
ford,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Wade,  Miss  Elizabeth  G.  Spining,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Stewart,  and  Mrs.  Mary  McG.  Stewart. 

William  King,  dissatisfied  with  Kentucky  on  account  of 
slavery,  emigrated  from  that  State  to  this  vicinity  in  1801.  He 
was  a  remarkable  man,  distinguished  for  his  strong  convictions 


78  EARLY  DAYTON 

and  his  conscientious  determination  to  carry  them  out  at  what- 
ever cost.  He  was  for  many  years  an  elder  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  had  something  of  the  Puritan  and  the 
Covenanter  in  his  composition.  He  lived  to  a  great  old  age, 
lacking  at  his  death  but  three  months  of  being  one  hundred 
years  old.  His  two  elder  sons,  John  and  Victor,  removed  to 
Madison,  Indiana.  His  son  Samuel  married  Mary  C,  daughter 
of  John  H.  Williams.  His  daughter  Jane  married  David  Osborn. 
The  Osborn  family  are  descendants  of  Cyrus  Osborn,  who  was 
here  as  early  as  1797.  Numerous  grandchildren  of  David  Osborn 
are  living  here  ;  for  instance,  David  L.  Osborn,  Cyrus  V.  Osborn, 
James  Steele  Osborn,  Miss  Harriet  E.  Osborn,  Miss  Harriet 
McGufFy  Osborn.  The  older  grandchildren  of  William  King 
are  Miss  Nancy  King,  William  B.  King,  John  King,  Mrs.  Har- 
riet Scott,  and  Mrs.  Eliza  Brenneman. 

John  H.  Williams  was  an  honored  and  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zen. His  descendants  are  numerous  and  prominent.  We  can 
only  mention  Mrs.  Hiram  Lewis,  Mrs.  David  Rench,  Miss  Susan 
Williams,  Miss  Nannie  B.  Williams,  Mrs.  Lucinda  H.  Campbell, 
John  W.  and  Henry  Stoddard,  and  Mrs.  General  S.  B.  Smith. 

In  December,  1803,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  appointed  first 
postmaster  of  Dayton,  and  served  till  his  death,  in  1821.  He 
opened  the  postoffice  in  his  cabin,  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
First  and  St.  Clair  streets.  Previous  to  Mr.  Van  Cleve's  ap- 
pointment the  only  postofiice  in  the  Miami  Valley,  and  as  far 
north  as  Lake  Erie,  was  at  Cincinnati.  From  1804  to  1806  the 
people  north  of  Dayton  as  far  as  Fort  Wayne  were  obliged  to  come 
here  for  their  mail.  In  1804  Dayton  was  on  the  mail-route  from 
Cincinnati  to  Detroit,  and  the  mail  was  carried  b}'  a  post-rider, 
who  arrived  and  left  here  once  in  two  weeks.  Soon  after,  a 
weekly  mail,  the  only  one,  was  established.  A  letter  from 
Dayton  to  Franklin,  or  any  other  towm  on  the  route,  was  sent 
first  to  Cincinnati  and  then  back  again  around  the  circuit  to  its 
destination.  A  second  route  was  soon  opened  from  Zanesville, 
Franklinton,  and  Urbana  to  Dayton.  The  next  improvement 
was  a  mail  from  the  East  by  way  of  Chillicothe,  arriving  and 
leaving  Sunday  evenings. 

In  1808  a  committee  of  citizens — Judge  Joseph  H.  Crane, 
George  Smith,  William  T.  Tenner}^  William  McClure,  and  Joseph 
Peirce  —  employed  William  George  to  superintend  the  carrying 
of  the  mail  to  Urbana.     It  was  necessary-  at  that  date  that  those 


1800-1805  79 

interested  in  a  proposed  new  mail-route  should  raise  a  fund  to 
defray  the  expense  of  it,  but  the  Postmaster-General  agreed  to 
allow  toward  the  expense  all  that  was  paid  in  for  postage,  etc., 
at  the  new  oflBces.  The  following  interesting  agreement  between 
the  committee  and  the  Urbana  mail-carrier  was  found  a  few 
years  ago  among  the  papers  of  William  McClure,  editor  of  the 
Repertory,  which  his  brother-in-law,  Judge  James  Steele,  had 
preserved : 

"WITNESSETH,  That  the  said  George,  on  his  part,  binds  him- 
self,' his  heirs,  etc.,  to  carry  the  mail  from  Dayton  to  Urbana 
once  a  week  and  back  to  Dayton  for  the  term  that  has  been 
contracted  for  between  Daniel  C.  Cooper  and  the  Postmaster- 
General,  to  commence  Friday,  the  gtli  inst.,  to  wit:  Leave 
Dayton  every  Friday  morning  at  six  o'clock ;  leave  Urbana 
Saturday  morning,  and  arrive  at  Dayton  Saturday  evening,  the 
undertakers  reserving  the  right  01  altering  the  time  of  the  start- 
ing and  returning  with  the  mail,  allowing  the  said  George  two 
days  to  perform  the  trip,  the  post-rider  to  be  employed  hy  the 
said  George  to  be  approved  by  the  undertakers.  They  also 
reserve  to  themselves  the  right  of  sending  way  letters  and  papers 
on  said  route,  and  the  said  George  binds  himself  to  pay  for 
every  failure  in  the  requisitions  of  this  agreement  on  his  part 
the  sum  equal  to  that  required  by  the  Postmaster-General  in 
like  failures.  The  said  committee,  on  their  part,  agree  to  furnish 
the  said  George  with  a  suitable  horse,  furnish  the  person  carrying 
the  mail  and  the  horse  .with  sufficient  victuals,  lodging,  and 
feed,  and  one  dollar  for  each  and  every  trip,  to  be  paid  every 
three  months." 

Previous  to  this  arrangement  a  public  meeting  had  been  called, 
where  the  committee  on  the  new  mail-route  had  been  appointed. 

Postage,  usually  not  prepaid,  but  collected  on  delivery,  was 
high,  and  money  scarce.  Few  ever  had  a  dollar  in  their  posses- 
sion. The  Government  would  not  accept  payment  in  corn  or 
pelts.  Stamps  were  not  used,  but  the  amount  due  —  ustially 
twenty-five  cents  —  was  written  on  the  outside  of  the  letter, 
which  was  not  enclosed  in  an  envelope.  It  was  a  trial,  especially 
in  years  when  people  had  little  in  their  own  town  to  interest  or 
amuse  them,  and  were  separated  by  a  journey  of  many  weeks 
from  friends  in  the  old  home  from  whence  they  had  emigrated 
to  Dayton,  to  return  the  letter  handed  them  at  the  office,  because 
they  had  no  money  to  pay  postage.  Mr.  Van  Cleve  was  a  man 
of  the  period,  and  had  a  fellow-feeling  for  his  penniless,  but  not 
necessaril}'  poverty-stricken  neighbors,  and  for  a  time  he  allowed 
them  to  take  their  unpaid-for  mail.     Soon,  however,  such  notices 


8o  EARLV  DAYTON 

as  the  following  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  newspapers  : 
"  The  postmaster,  having  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  unlimited 
credit  heretofore,  finds  it  his  duty  to  adhere  strictly  to  the 
instructions  of  the  Postmaster-General.  He  hopes,  therefore, 
that  his  friends  will  not  take  it  amiss  when  he  assures  them  that 
no  distinction  will  be  made.  No  letters  delivered  in  the  future 
without  pay,  nor  papers  without  the  postage  being  paid  quarterly 
in  advance." 

Mr.  Van  Cleve's  successor  as  postmaster  was  George  S.  Hous- 
ton, who  came  here  from  New  Jersey  in  1810,  and  entered  into 
partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  H.  G.  Phillips.  Like  Mr. 
Van  Cleve,  he  was  an  unusually  public-spirited  citizen,  as 
reports  of  societies  and  meetings  in  the  old  newspapers  show, 
and  a  man  of  many  avocations.  From  1821  till  his  death,  in 
1831,  he  was  editor-in-chief  of  the  Watchman,  cashier  of  the 
Dayton  Bank,  and  postmaster.  The  postoffice  was  at  his  resi- 
dence, a  brick  dwelling,  still  standing  on  the  north  side  of  Second 
Street,  near  Ludlow. 

Joseph  Peirce  and  Judge  Joseph  H.  Crane,  who  signed  the 
agreement  with  the  Urbana  mail-carrier,  were  very  prominent 
citizens.  They  married  sisters  —  the  daughters  of  Dr.  John 
Elliott.  Joseph  Peirce  was  born  in  Rhode  Island  in  1786,  and 
was  brought  to  Marietta  in  1788  by  his  father,  who  served  in 
1779  as  an  aid-de-camp  on  the  staff  of  General  Horatio  Gates^ 
was  a  shareholder  in  the  Ohio  Company,  and  in  1789  one  of  the 
founders  of  Belpre,  Ohio.  Joseph  Peirce  spent  his  childhood  in 
the  stockades.  Farmers'  Castle,  and  Goodale's  Garrison,  in  which 
the  people  of  Belpre  took  refuge  during  the  Indian  war.  About 
1805  he  came  to  Dayton,  and  in  1807  entered  into  a  partnership 
with  James  Steele,  which  continued  all  his  life.  They  retailed, 
as  the  manuscript  advertisement  which  they  circulated  states, 
"all  sorts  of  goods,  wares,  and  commodities  belonging  to  the 
trade  of  merchandising."  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
in  1812.  A  letter  written  by  him  to  a  friend  at  this  time  refers 
in  an  interesting  manner  to  the  war  then  in  progress.  "Great 
unanimity  prevails  among  the  members  [of  the  Legislature]  so 
far.  You  no  doubt  have  seen  Governor  Meigs's  message.  You 
will,  in  a  few  days,  see  the  patriotic  resolutions,  approbating  the 
general  Government,  that  have  been  passed.  I  doubt  we  have 
promised  more  than  most  of  us  would  be  willing  to  perform, 
should  we  be  put  to  the  test.    To-day  I  think  we  shall  pass  a 


1800-1805  8i 

law  furnishing  our  militia  on  duty  with  about  $5,000  worth  of 
blankets."  Dayton  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  Western  troops 
in  this  war,  and  our  merchants  sold  largely  to  the  army,  waiting, 
however,  many  a  long  month  before  they  received  their  pay  from 
the  Government.  Mr.  Peirce  was  president  of  the  Dayton  Bank 
from  1814  till  his  death  in  1821  of  the  fever  which  swept  away 
a  number  of  valuable  citizens.  The  obituary  notice  published  in 
the  Watchman  says  that  he  received  from  his  fellow-citizens 
many  and  various  marks  of  their  respect  and  confidence,  and 
faithfully  discharged  the  duties  of  all  the  public  positions  to 
which  he  was  called.  Fully  appreciating  the  importance  of 
a  canal  from  the  Ohio  to  Lake  Erie,  he  was  endeavoring  to 
secure  its  construction  when  he  died.  He  was  an  ardent  sup- 
porter of  Mr.  Cooper  in  the  latter' s  plans  for  the  benefit  of  the 
town,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  his  fellow-citizens 
in  all  public,  business,  and  social  relations.  He  was  the  father 
of  J.  C.  and  the  late  J.  H.  Peirce,  and  the  grandfather  of  J. 
Elliott,  Sarah  H.,  Elizabeth  F.,  and  Howard  F.  Peirce,  Mfs. 
H.  E.  Parrott,  S-.  W.  and  J.  P.  Davies,  Mrs.  R.  C.  Schenck,  and 
Mrs.  Joseph  Dart. 

Judge  Joseph  H.  Crane,  the  grandfather  of  J.  F.  S.  and  J.  H. 
Crane,  was  noted  for  profound  learning  in  his  profession.  He 
was  a  man  of  ' '  wide  and  varied  reading,  and  prodigious  memory, 
especially  familiar  with  English  history  and  the  English  classics 
and  poets."  He  aided  in  selecting  the  first  books  bought  for 
the  Public  Library,  and  would  buy  only  works  of  the  highest 
character.  The  Dayton  library  and  schools  and  other  institutions 
received  an  impetus  in  right  directions  from  cultivated  and  far- 
sighted  men  who  came  here  in  the  first  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
the  history  of  the  town,  which  is  felt  at  the  present  day,  and  will 
never  cease.  Judge  Crane  came  to  Dayton  when  twenty-one,  at 
the  invitation  of  Mr.  Cooper,  from  New  Jersey,  where  he  had 
studied  law  in  the  ofiice  of  Aaron  Ogden,  a  noted  lawyer  and 
statesman.  He  became  invaluable  as  attorney  and  counselor  to 
Daniel  C.  Cooper  and  the  early  settlers.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  in  1809.  His  colleague,  David  Purviance,  in  a  letter 
to  William  McClure,  editor  of  the  Repertory,  in  the  possession 
of  one  of  the  authors,  saj's  under  date  of  December  29,  1809 : 
"Mr.  Crane  is  the  07ily  lawyer  who  is  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  He  conducts  with  prudence,  and  is  in  good 
repute  as  a  member."      Crane  was  a  young  man  and  had  his 

6 


82  EARLY  DAYTON 

reputation  to  win  at  this  period.  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812, 
enlisting  with  the  other  gentlemen  of  the  town  as  a  private,  but 
at  St.  Mary's  was  promoted  to  sergeant-major  of  the  post.  From 
1813  to  1816  he  was  prosecuting  attorney,  and  was  made  judge 
in  1817.  In  1828  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  served  eight 
years.  From  1836  till  his  death,  in  1851,  he  practiced  law  in 
Daj'ton,  venerated  by  all  for  his  high  character  and  great  ability. 
In  1804  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  whose  name  often  occurs  in 
the  history  of  Kentucky  and  Ohio  during  the  last  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  came  here  from  Kentuck5^  He  settled  on 
the  farm  now  the  site  of  the  Cash  Register  Works,  which  have 
given  his  grandsons  an  international  reputation  in  the  business 
world.  Colonel  Patterson's  early  life  was  full  of  adventure  and 
hairbreadth  escapes  from  Indians  and  other  perils  of  the 
Western  wilderness.  He  was  born  in  1753  in  Bedford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  began  his  military  career  as  a  member  of  a 
company  of  rangers  raised  to  protect  the  frontier  of  his  native 
State  from  Indians.  When  twenty-one,  he  and  several  other 
young  men  started  in  boats  from  Fort  Pitt  for  Kentucky,  with 
nine  horses  and  fourteen  head  of  cattle,  and  supplies,  imple- 
ments, and  ammunition.  At  Limestone  Creek,  in  Kentucky,  they 
met,  "guarding  a  little  corn-patch  with  their  tomahawks,"  Simon 
Kenton  and  Thomas  Williams,  the  only  white  men  in  what  is 
now  that  State.  In  1777  Patterson  and  his  party  cleared  land 
and  planted  corn  near  a  big  spring,  naming  their  camp  "Lexing- 
ton," in  honor  of  the  Revolutionary  battle.  Later,  he  entered 
land  and  laid  out  the  city  at  this  point.  In  1787  he  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  Cincinnati.  He  accompanied  General  George 
Rogers  Clark  in  the  Illinois  campaign  in  1778,  and  Colonel 
Bowman  in  the  expedition  against  the  Shawnee  towns  at  old 
Chillicothe  in  1779;  served  as  captain  in  1780  in  General  Clark's 
raid  on  old  Chillicothe  and  old  Miami ;  was  in  command  of 
a  company  of  Logan's  regiment  in  Clark's  campaign,  in 
1782,  against  Indians  at  Piqua,  on  the  Miami,  and  at  Laramie. 
Colonel  Logan's  command  camped  three  days  at  the  mouth  of 
Mad  River;  that  is  to  say,  at  Dayton.  In  1786  Patrick  Henry, 
Governor  of  Virginia,  commissioned  Robert  Patterson  a  colonel 
in  the  "State  Line."  In  1786  his  regiment  of  Colonel  Logan's 
division  marched  to  destroy  the  ]\Iacacheek  towns  on  Mad 
River.  But  for  these  battles  and  victories  over  the  Indians,  in 
which  Colonel  Patterson  was  for  many  years  engaged,  the  Dayton 


I800-I805  83 

settlement  would  have  been  an  impossibility.  His  part  in  the 
history  of  our  city  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  for  he  helped 
win  its  site  from  the  Indians,  and  secured  a  peaceful  and  pros- 
perous home  for  the  pioneers.  He  was  present  with  his  regiment 
at  "St.  Clair's  defeat"  in  1791.  In  the  War  of  1812  he  had 
charge  of  transportation  of  supplies  from  Camp  Meigs,  near 
Dayton,  north  to  the  army.  All  his  later  years  he  was  a  sufferer 
from  wounds  received  in  his  campaigns. 

Colonel  Patterson's  wife  died  in  1833.  They  had  nine  children, 
all  deceased.  Their  son  Jefferson  (like  his  father,  always  called 
Colonel)  was  born  in  Dayton  May  27,  1801,  and  was  a  man  of 
high  character  and  an  influential  citizen.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  at  the  time  of  his  sudden  death  in  1863. 
Colonel  Jefferson  Patterson  married,  in  1833,  Julia,  daughter  of 
Colonel  John  Johnston,  who  survives  him.  Colonel  Johnston  was 
a  very  noted  man  in  Indian  affairs,  being  in  the  employ  of  the 
United  States  Government.  He  succeeded  in  both  doing  justice 
to  the  Indians  and  securing  the  safety  of  the  white  inhabitants 
even  during  the  War  of  1812.  Colonel  Jefferson  Patterson's 
children,  Robert,  S.  J.,  J.  H.,  and  F.  J.  Patterson,  and  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Crane,  are  well  known.  Colonel  Robert  Patterson's  daughter 
Catharine  married,  first,  Henry  Brown ;  second,  Andrew  Irwin  ; 
third,  H.  G.  Phillips.  Her  children,  the  late  Judge  R.  P.  and 
Henry  L,.  Brown,  Mrs.  Charles  Anderson,  and  A.  Barr  Irwin, 
were  long  prominent  in  Dayton.  Mr.  Irwin  and  Mrs.  Anderson 
now  live  in  Kentucky. 

After  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  closed  his  blockhouse  school,  children 
were  dependent  upon  their  parents  for  instruction  till  1804,  when 
Cornelius  Westfall  opened  a  school,  probably  on  Main  Street, 
next  the  High  School  lot.  He  was  a  Kentuckian,  and,  after  he 
ceased  to  teach,  was  for  many  years  clerk  of  the  Miami  Court  of 
Common  Pleas.  His  successor  as  teacher,  in  1805,  was  Swansey 
Whiting,  an  educated  man  from  Penns3'lvania,  who  became  a 
physician. 

The  town  of  Dayton  was  incorporated  b\^  the  Legislature 
February  12,  1805.  The  act  of  incorporation  provided  for  the 
election,  by  freeholders  who  had  lived  in  Da3-ton  six  months,  of 
seven  trustees,  a  collector,  supervisor,  and  marshal.  The  trus- 
tees were  empowered  to  elect  a  treasurer,  who  need  not  be  a 
member  of  their  board,  and  to  choose  a  president  (in  effect, 
mayor)  and  a  recorder  from  their  own  number.     The  board  of 


84  EARLY   DAYTON 

trustees  was  known  as  ' '  the  Select  Council  of  the  city  of  Day- 
ton." Till  1814  annual  public  meetings  were  held,  where  esti- 
mates and  expenditures  for  town  improvement  and  government 
purposes  were  discussed  and  authorized  by  popular  vote.  Meet- 
ings of  the  Select  Council  were,  for  ten  years,  held  at  residences 
of  members.  Councilmen  were  fined  twenty-five  cents  if  thirtj' 
minutes  late.  In  1805  Council  proposed  raising  the  expenses  of 
the  town,  which  were  seventy-two  dollars,  by  taxation.  But  the 
proposition  was  defeated  at  a  meeting  of  voters  called  to  discuss 
it.     Seventeen  voted  against  taxation,  and  thirteen  for  it. 

The  first  brick  house  erected  in  Dayton  was  McCullum's 
Tavern,  two  stories  high  and  built  in  1805  on  the  southwest 
comer  of  Main  and  Second  streets.  It  was  used  as  a  hotel  till 
1870,  when  it  was  converted  into  a  business  house.  In  1880  it 
w^as  torn  down.  A  bell  in  a  belfry  on  the  Second  Street  side  of 
the  roof  called  guests  to  breakfast,  always  served  before  dajdight, 
and  to  the  other  meals,  also  ready  at  early  hours.  In  1812  a 
picture  of  the  capture  of  the  British  frigate  GuerHlre  by  the 
American  frigate  Constihition ,  was  painted  on  McCullum's  sign, 
a  large  one  fastened  to  a  tall  post  on  the  pavement  in  front  of  the 
house.  A  highly  colored  engraving  of  this  naval  battle  was  a 
favorite  ornament  of  Daj^ton  parlors  at  that  period.  From  1805 
to  1807  the  county  court  was  held  at  McCullum's,  the  commis- 
sioners agreeing  to  pay  him  twenty-five  dollars  a  year  for  the  use 
of  as  much  of  his  house  as  would  be  needed. 

The  Dayton  Social  Library  Society  was  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature  in  1805,  Mr.  Cooper,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Leg- 
islature at  that  date,  no  doubt  attending  to  the  matter.  This  was 
the  first  library  incorporated  in  Ohio.  The  incorporators  were 
Rev.  William  Robertson,  Dr.  John  Elliott,  William  Miller,  Ben- 
jamin Van  Cleve,  and  John  Folksrth.  John  Folkerth  was 
treasurer ;  Robertson,  Miller,  and  Elliott,  directors.  It  is  credit- 
able to  our  pioneers  that  a  library  and  an  academy  were  estab- 
lished as  early  as  1805  and  1807.  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was 
appointed  librarian,  and  the  books  were  kept  at  the  postofiice,  at 
St.  Clair  and  First  streets.  When  he  died.  Squire  Folkerth  took 
charge  of  them  at  his  oflSce,  in  the  one-story  extension  of  the 
building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  First  and  Main  streets.  Bor- 
rowers were  assessed  three  cents  for  a  drop  of  tallow,  or  for 
folding  down  a  leaf,  and  in  proportion  for  any  other  damage,  and 
were  fined  one  quarter  of  the  cost  of  a  book  lent  to  a  person  not 


From  a  portrait  In  poaaeasion  of  J.  H.  Patterson, 

COLONEL  ROBERT  PATTERSON. 


1800-1805  85 

belonging  to  the  society  or  allowed  to  be  taken  into  a  school.  It 
was  determined  by  lottery  who  should  have  the  first  choice,  and 
so  on,  for  each  proprietor.  The  constitution  provided  for  a 
monthly  business-meeting  of  proprietors  in  the  log-cabin  meet- 
ing-house. In  1822  the  Gridiron  advertises  a  farce  to  be  given  by 
the  Thespian  Society  for  the  benefit  of  the  library.  John  W.  Van 
Cleve  said  of  this  library  :  "  The  number  of  books  is  small,  but 
they  are  well  selected,  being  principally  useful  standard  books, 
which  should  be  found  in  all  institutions  of  the  kind.  Among 
them  are  the  North  American  and  American  Quarterly  Reviews 
for  the  last  few  years."  September  8,  1835,  Henry  Stoddard, 
William  Bomberger,  and  J.  W.  Van  Cleve,  committee,  advertised 
the  library  for  sale  at  auction  at  the  clerk's  office  at  2  p.  m., 
Saturday,  the  12th  inst. 


CHAPTER  V 

1805-1809 

First  Disastrous  Flood— Emigrants  from  New  Jersey— Charles  Russell 
Greene  — Ferries— First  Court-House— First  Newspaper— First  Brick 
Stores— James  Steele— Robert  W.  Steele  — Dayton  Academy— James 
Hanna— John  Folkerth  — First  Teachers  in  the  Academy  — William  M. 
Smith  — James  H.  Mitchell  — E.  E.  Barney— Trustees  of  Academy  in  1833 
— Collins  Wight  — Milo  G.  Williams— Transfer  of  Academy  to  Board  of 
Education  — Henry  Bacon  — Luther  Brueu  — Antislavery  Excitement- 
Arrest  and  Suicide  of  a  Fugitive  Slave  — Colored  People  Leave  Dayton 
for  Hayti— A  Colonization  Society  Formed  — Antislavery  Society — 
Union  Meetiug-House,  Principally  Built  by  Luther  Bruen  — Dr.  Birney 
and  Mr.  Rankin  Mobbed— Dr.  H.  Jewett— Dr.  John  Steele  — Advertise- 
ment of  a  Runaway  Slave— Jonathan  Harshman  — First  Brick  Residence 
—The  Cannon  "Mad  Anthony  "  —  Rev.  James  Welsh,  M.D.  — Dr.  John 
Elliott— Town  Prospering  — No  Care  Taken  of  Streets  or  Walks  — Grimes's 
Tavern  —  Alexander  Grimes— Reid's  Inn  — Colonel  Reid  — Second  News- 
paper, the  Hejjertory— Advertisements  in  the  Hepertory —Matthew  Patton 
—  Abram  Darst — Pioneer  Women. 

In  March,  1805,  a  disastrous  flood  —  the  first  of  any  importance 
that  had  occurred  since  the  settlement  of  Dayton — swept  over 
the  town  plat.  No  levees  had  been  built  at  this  date,  and  when 
the  town  began  to  raise  them  they  were  repeatedly  washed 
away.  It  took  long  and  painful  experience  to  teach  the  lesson 
that  levees  must  be  high  and  strong.  John  W.  Van  Cleve 
describes  this  flood  in  an  address  on  the  ' '  Settlement  and  Prog- 
ress of  Dayton,"  delivered  in  1833  before  the  Dayton  Lyceum,  a 
literary  society,  having  a  public  library  connected  with  it.  The 
address  was  printed  in  a  morning  paper. 

"In  the  spring  of  1805,"  Mr.  Van  Cleve  saj^s,  "Dayton  was 
inundated  b}'  an  extraordinary  rise  of  the  river.  In  all  ordinary 
freshets  the  water  used  to  pass  through  the  prairie  at  the  east 
side  of  the  town,  where  the  basin  now  is;  but  the  flood  of  1805 
covered  a  great  portion  of  the  town  itself.  There  were  only  two 
spots  of  dry  land  within  the  whole  place.  The  water  came  out 
of  the  river  at  the  head  of  Jefferson  Street,  and  ran  down  to  the 
common  at  the  east  end  of  old  Market  Street,  in  a  stream  which 

86 


1 805-1809  87 

a  horse  could  not  cross  without  swimming,  leaving  an  island 
between  it  and  the  mill.  A  canoe  could  be  floated  at  the  inter- 
section of  First  Street  with  St.  Clair,  and  the  first  dry  land  was 
west  of  that  point.  The  western  extremity  of  that  island  was 
near  the  crossing  of  Main  and  First  streets,  from  whence  it  bore 
down  in  a  southern  direction  towards  where  the  sawmill  now 
stands,  leaving  a  dr}'  strip  from  a  point  on  the  south  side  of 
Main  Cross  Street  [now  Third],  between  Jefferson  Street  and  the 
prairie,  to  the  river  bank  at  the  head  of  Main  Street.  Almost 
the  whole  of  the  land  was  under  water,  with  the  exception  of 
those  two  islands,  from  the  river  to  the  hill  which  circles  round 
south  and  east  of  town  from  Mad  River  to  the  Miami.  The 
water  was  probably  eight  feet  deep  in  Main  Street,  at  the  Court- 
house, where  the  ground  has  since  been  raised  several  feet. 

"In  consequence  of  the  flood,  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  became  strongly  disposed  to  abandon  the  present 
site  of  the  town,  and  the  proposition  was  made  and  urged  very 
strenuously  that  lots  should  be  laid  off"  upon  the  plain  upon 
the  second  rise  on  the  southeast  of  the  town,  through  which  the 
Waynesville  road  passes ;  and  that  the  inhabitants  should  take 
lots  there  in  exchange  for  those  which  they  owned  upon  the  pres- 
ent plat,  and  thus  remove  the  town  to  a  higher  and  more  secure 
situation.  The  project,  however,  was  defeated  by  the  unyielding 
opposition  of  some  of  the  citizens,  and  it  was  no  doubt  for  the 
advantage  and  prosperity  of  the  place  that  it  was." 

Some  of  us  can  remember  how  certain  aged  pioneers  used  to 
upbraid  the  founders  of  the  town  for  putting  it  down  in  a  hollow, 
instead  of  on  the  hills  to  the  southeast,  and  expatiate  on  the  folly 
which  the  people  were  guilty  of  in  voting  against  the  removal, 
after  the  terrible  freshet  of  1805,  to  high  ground.  "Some  day 
there  will  be  a  flood  which  will  sweep  Dayton  out  of  existence," 
those  ancient  men  and  women  used  to  prophesy  to  their  grand- 
children. 

In  no  way  did  Daniel  C.  Cooper  confer  a  greater  benefit  upon 
his  town  than  by  inducing  a  number  of  men  of  superior  educa- 
tion, character,  and  business  capacity  to  come  here  from  his 
native  New  Jersey  and  other  States,  between  1804  and  1808. 
About  1804  or  1805  arrived  Charles  Russell  Greene,  whose  sister 
Mr.  Cooper  married.  He  was  born  in  Rhode  Island,  but  as,  like 
his  cousin  Joseph  Peirce,  he  was  the  son  of  a  shareholder  in  the 
Ohio  Company,  his  youth  was  spent  at  Marietta.     The  boys  who 


88  EARLY   DAYTON 

came  to  Ohio  in  1788  received  a  good  education,  for  the  com- 
pany employed  excellent  teachers ;  and  if  these  had  been 
wanting,  men,  of  whom  there  were  many,  of  the  ability  and 
knowledge  of  Isaac  Peirce  and  Charles  Greene,  fathers  of  Joseph 
Peirce  and  Charles  R.  Greene,  were  capable  of  instructing  their 
sons  themselves.  When  Charles  R.  Greene  first  came  to  Dayton, 
he  was  in  business  with  Mr.  Cooper.  Afterwards  he  had  a  store 
of  his  own.  He  succeeded  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  in  182 1  as 
clerk  of  the  court,  a  position  for  which  he  was  eminently  fitted. 
He  was  remarkably  elegant  and  fine-looking.  An  old  gentleman 
who  was  a  child  when  Mr.  Greene  died  was  fond  of  relating  how 
admiringly  the  boys  used  to  watch  this  handsome,  graceful  man, 
mounted  on  a  beautiful,  spirited  white  horse,  taking  his  daily 
ride  down  Main  Street  out  into  the  country.  Mr.  Greene  married 
a  daughter  of  Henry  Disbrow,  a  prominent  Dayton  business 
man.  They  had  six  children :  Luciana  Zeigler,  married  J.  D. 
Phillips ;  Sophia,  married  E.  T.  Schenck ;  Eliza,  married  David 
Z.  Peirce ;  Cooper,  died  unmarried ;  Harriet,  married  David  Jun- 
kin;  Charles  H.,  married  Adeline  D.  Piper.  All  are  deceased 
except  Mrs.  Schenck.     Mrs.  C.  R.  Greene  died  November  3,  1873. 

Mr.  Greene  was  a  highl}^  esteemed  citizen,  and  his  death  in 
183 1  threw  a  gloom  over  the  whole  comniunit3\  Even  the  man 
who,  while  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  caused  his  death  admit- 
ted that  he  had  killed  his  best  friend.  The  indignation  against 
the  murderer  was  intense.  At  a  fire,  which  occurred  here  on  the 
night  of  September  10,  1833,  Mr.  Greene,  one  of  the  fire-wardens, 
ordered  Matthew  Thompson,  who  was  looking  idly  on,  to  assist 
in  passing  water  in  the  leather  buckets  to  the  little  engine,  which 
was  now  always  used  in  addition  to  the  buckets.  Thompson 
refused,  and  offering  some  resistance  when  the  order  was 
repeated,  Mr.  Greene  was  obliged  to  use  force  to  compel  him  to 
obey.  The  next  da}^  on  the  complaint  of  Thompson,  Mr.  Greene 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  squire.  While  he  was  being 
qiiestioned,  Thompson  struck  him  with  a  club,  death  resulting 
in  a  short  time.  Mr.  Greene's  sister,  INIrs.  Cooper,  by  her  third 
marriage  became  the  mother  of  INIajor  Fielding  Loury,  the  father 
of  Charles  G.  and  Sophie  Loury,  Mrs.  Anna  Dana,  and  Mrs. 
Elise  L.  Smith. 

There  were  no  bridges  over  the  Miami  or  Mad  River  in  1805  ; 
but  there  were  two  ferries  over  the  Miami  —  one  at  the  foot  of 
First  Street,  at  the  old  ford  on  the  road  to  Salem,  and  another  at 


1 805-1809  89 

the  foot  of  Fourth  Street,  on  the  road  to  Gennantown.  The 
First-Street  ferry  was  used  till  a  bridge  was  built  in  1819.  Ferrj' 
rates  were  fixed  by  the  county  commissioners,  as  follows : 
loaded  wagon  and  team,  seventy-five  cents  empty  wagon  and 
team,  fifty  cents ;  two-wheeled  carriage,  thirt3^-seven  and  one- 
half  cents ;  man  and  horse,  twelve  and  one-half  cents  ;  person 
on  foot,  six  and  one-quarter  cents. 

In  1806  the  first  Court-house,  a  brick  structure,  fifty-two  by 
thirty-eight  feet  in  size,  two  stories  high,  was  built  on  the  pres- 
ent Court-house  lot.  The  court-room  was  on  the  first  floor,  and 
the  jury-rooms  in  the  second  story.  In  1815  a  cupola  was  built, 
in  which  a  bell  was  hung  in  1816.  The  building  was  removed 
about  1847,  and  that  perfect  piece  of  architecture,  the  "old 
Court-house,"  built  on  its  site. 

In  July  of  this  year  a  Mr.  Crane,  from  Lebanon,  Ohio,  endeav- 
ored to  establish  a  newspaper  here.  After  issuing  a  few  numbers, 
he  was  attacked  with  fever  and  ague,  and,  in  consequence  of  this 
illness,  returned  to  Lebanon,  and  abandoned  his  project.  No 
file  of  this  paper  has  been  preserved,  and  even  its  name  has  been 
forgotten. 

In  1806  two  brick  stores,  one  story  high,  were  erected  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  First  and  Main  by  Mr.  Cooper,  and  one,  two 
stories  high,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  First  by  James 
Steele.  The  latter  building  stood  till  1865  ;  it  gave  place  to 
Turner's  Opera-house.  Brown  &  Sutherland  had  a  frame  store 
on  Main,  near  Monument  Avenue,  and  H.  G.  Phillips  a  log 
store  on  the  southwest  corner  of  First  and  Jefferson  streets. 
In  181 2  he  built  a  brick  store,  with  a  handsome  residence 
adjoining,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets. 
The  brick  business  houses  of  1806  were  very  small,  plain,  and 
insignificant  affairs,  as  those  who  remember  the  Steele  store  are 
aware.  But  Cooper's  and  Steele's  stores  drew  business  toward 
the  center  of  town. 

James  Steele  was  born  in  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  in 
1778,  and  brought  to  Kentucky  by  his  father  in  1788,  He  came 
to  Dayton  from  Kentucky  in  1805,  and  was  in  business  till  1807 
with  his  brother-in-law,  William  McClure.  From  December, 
1807,  till  182 1  he  was  in  partnership  with  his  wdfe's  brother,  Joseph 
Peirce.  Before  he  came  to  Da3'ton,  his  life  was  one  of  hardship 
and  anxiety  on  a  Kentucky  farm,  where  he  labored  strenuoush' 
to  support  and  educate  his  fatherless  brothers  and  sisters.     He 


go  EARLY   DAYTON 

earned  the  capital  with  which  he  began  business  here  by  making 
trips  on  a  flatboat,  laden  with  farm  products,  from  Kentucky  to 
New  Orleans.  Like  his  son,  Robert  W.  Steele,  he  was  interested 
in  every  effort  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  town,  and  gave 
money,  time,  and  labor  to  schools,  libraries,  churches,  benevolent 
societies,  and  to  all  organizations  formed  to  secure  public  im- 
provements. He  was  for  many  years  a  trustee  of  the  old  Dayton 
Academy,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  employment 
of  B.  E.  Barney  as  principal.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
second  building  erected  by  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  1839 
(considered  a  model  church),  and  gave  to  it  largely  of  his  means 
and  personal  attention.  He  died  in  1841,  just  as  it  was  finished. 
A  friend  described  him  as  noted  for  unyielding  integrity,  candor, 
moderation,  kindness,  and  benignity. 

For  fourteen  years  Mr.  Steele  was  associate  judge  of  Mont- 
gomery County,  elected  by  the  Legislature,  and  for  four  years 
was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Senate.  "On  the  bench  he  was  dis- 
tinguished for  good  sense,  integrity,  and  impartiality,"  wrote 
Judge  Crane.  "As  a  legislator,  in  a  period  of  great  public 
excitement,  though  firm  and  consistent  in  his  political  opinions, 
he  won  the  esteem  and  respect  of  his  opponents  by  his  candor 
and  moderation."  In  1824  he  was  one  of  the  electors  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  for  the  State  of 
Ohio.  His  old  friend  Henrj'  Clay  was  his  candidate.  From  1815 
to  1822  he  was  a  director  in  the  Dayton  Bank,  and  from  the  latter 
date  till  his  sudden  death,  in  1841,  president.  The  stone  bank 
built  in  1815,  converted  into  dwellings,  still  stands  on  Main 
Street,  next  to  the  High  School.  In  June,  1837,  the  Muscatine 
Gazette  said  that  the  Dayton  Bank  was  the  only  one  in  the  United 
States  that  had  refused  to  respect  President  Jackson's  Treasury 
order,  and  it  was  one  of  the  three  banks  that  continued  to  pay 
specie  during  that  time  of  financial  panic.  But  people  preferred  to 
take,  and  even  hoarded,  the  notes  of  the  bank.  Mr.  Steele  served 
in  the  War  of  1812.  After  the  disgraceful  surrender  of  General 
Hull,  information  was  sent  to  Dayton  that  the  Indians  assembled 
near  Piqua  in  council,  emboldened  by  the  success  of  the  British, 
were  dangerous,  and  threatening  to  attack  the  inhabitants.  The 
news  came  on  Saturday,  and  on  Sunday  morning  at  seven  o'clock 
a  company  of  seventy  men,  commanded  by  Captain  James  Steele, 
were  ready  to  march  to  the  front.  The  alarm  proved  groundless, 
and  after  a  few  days  the  company  returned  home,  but  Captain 


1805- i8o9  91 

Steele  was  retained  in  the  service  for  some  time  by  order  of  Gen- 
eral Harrison,  to  superintend  the  building  of  blockhouses  at  St. 
Mary's  for  the  protection  of  the  people  of  that  region. 

In  November,  1812,  James  Steele  married  Phebe,  daughter  of 
Isaac  Peirce,  who  served  as  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  was  a  member  of' the  Ohio  Company.  Mr.  Peirce  came  to 
Marietta,  Ohio,  from  Rhode  Island  with  his  family  in  1788,  and 
was  in  1789  one  of  the  founders  of  Belpre.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steele 
had  two  sons — Robert  Wilbur,  born  in  1819,  died  in  1891  and 
Joseph  Peirce,  born  in  1821,  who  entered  into  rest  several  years 
before  the  death  of  his  idolized  brother. 

Robert  W.  Steele  married,  first,  Elizabeth  Smith,  and  five 
children  of  this  marriage  survive — Mary  D.,  Sarah  S.,  and 
Agnes  C.  Steele,  of  Daj'ton  ;  Egbert  T.,  of  Spokane,  Washing- 
ton, married  Louise  White;  William  C,  of  Rocky  Ford,  Colo- 
rado, married  May  Carter.  R.  W.  Steele  married,  second,  Clara 
P.  Steele,  who,  with  one  daughter,  Charlotte  H.  Steele,  survives 
him,  and  lives  in  Da3-ton.  He  was  for  thirty-three  years  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  for  twelve  3'ears  president ;  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Da3^ton  Library  Association,  and  served 
for  many  j^ears  as  director  and  president.  After  it  was  united 
with  the  Public  Library  in  i860,  he  was,  excepting  one  or  two 
years,  till  his  death  in  1S91  a  member  of  the  Librar}^  Board.  In 
1844  he  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  Cooper  Seminar}',  and  a 
trustee  till  the  school  passed  into  private  hands.  He  was  nine 
years  a  trustee  of  Miami  University,  appointed  by  the  Governor 
of  Ohio.  From  1858  to  1891  he  was  president  of  Woodland 
Cemetery  Association ;  was  a  member,  appointed  bj'  the  Gov- 
ernor, of  the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Charities  for  five  3'ears ;  was 
actively  engaged  all  his  life  in  promoting  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural societies ;  was  trustee  of  the  Montgomery  County 
Children's  Home  for  nine  years ;  was  an  elder  in  the  Third 
Street  Presbyterian  Church  for  thirty-seven  years,  and  a  member 
of  that  church  for  fifty  years.  In  the  early  hivStory  of  railroads 
he  was  much  interested  in  promoting  those  improvements,  and 
was  a  subscriber  to  the  stock  of  all  the  railroads,  excepting 
three,  entering  Dayton.  During  the  Rebellion  he  was  active  in 
promoting  enlistments,  and  in  aiding  in  providing  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  soldiers  and  their  families.  He  was  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  Ohio  and  served  as  a  member  of  the  Military  Com- 
mittee of  Montgomery'  County  ;  was  a  member  of  the  Sanitary 


92  EARLY   DAYTON 

Coiiimission,  and  Chairman  of  the  Citizens'  Committee  to  assist 
in  raising  the  Ninety-third  Regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry. 
He  loved  his  native  town  with  a  personal  love  almost  as  strong 
and  warm  as  that  which  he  felt  for  relatives  and  individual 
friends. 

The  Dayton  Academy  was  incorporated  in  1807  by  James 
Welsh,  Daniel  C.  Cooper,  William  McClure,  David  Reid,  John 
Folkerth,  George  T.  Tennery,  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  and  James 
Hanna.  Mr.  Hanna  was  an  influential  citizen  in  early  days. 
The  family  left  Dayton  many  years  ago.  John  Folkerth,  one  of 
the  incorporators  of  the  academy,  was  also  one  of  the  incorpora- 
tors, in  1805,  of  the  Library  Societ3^  He  was  elected  first  Mayor 
of  Dayton  under  the  charter  of  1829.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling 
integrity,  and  a  great  reader  of  good  books.  He  served  in  the 
War  of  1812  as  first  sergeant  in  Captain  Steele's  company.  In 
the  early  history  of  the  town  the  greater  part  of  the  deeds  were 
drawn  by  him,  and  his  legible  but  peculiar  handwriting  is 
familiar  to  many.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  William  Atkin,  and  his 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Iddings,  are  widely  known  in  Dayton. 

Besides  donations  in  money,  Mr.  Cooper  presented  for  the  use 
of  the  academy  two  lots  on  St.  Clair  Street,  opposite  Cooper 
Park,  just  north  of  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  on  which,  in  1808, 
a  two-story  brick  building  was  erected  by  subscription.  He  also 
gave  a  bell.  In  1S07  and  1808  a  debating-club  met  on  winter 
evenings  in  the  academy. 

This  was  the  only  boys'  school  in  Dayton  for  many  years.  The 
first  teacher  was  William  M  Smith.  He  and  his  sons  were 
prominent  citizens.  In  his  contract  with  the  trustees  he  agreed 
to  teach  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  the  classics,  and  the 
sciences.  Teaching  in  elocution  was  also  given  prominence.  In 
1815  Mr.  Smith  had  for  assistant  Rev.  James  B.  Findlay,  who 
afterwards  became  a  distinguished  Methodist  preacher.  About 
1820  Mr.  Smith  was  succeeded  by  Gideon  IMcMillan,  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  Glasgow,  who  in  his  advertisements  made 
claims  to  great  scholarship.  Succeeding  teachers  were  Captain 
McMullin  ;  James  H.  Mitchell,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  who  after- 
wards followed  the  profession  of  civil  engineer,  and  was  a  leading 
citizen  for  many  years ;  E.  E.  Barney,  a  graduate  of  Union  Col- 
lege, New  York,  and  a  remarkable  teacher  and  man.  Mr.  Barney, 
by  the  introduction  of  the  analytical  method,  exercised  an  impor- 
tant influence  on  our  public  schools.     Teachers  educated  by  him 


'^^Sl 

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1 

From  a  drawing  bj  Eugene  Wuicliet 


THK  OLD  ACADEJIY,  1833-1857. 


1S05-1809  93 

carried  these  methods  into  the  schools  in  advance  of  most  places 
in  the  West,  and  gave  them  in  their  early  history  a  high  reputa- 
tion. The  year  before  Mr.  Barney  came,  1833,  the  old  academy 
had  been  sold  and  a  new  one  erected  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Wilkinson  streets.  The  trustees  this  year  were 
Aaron  Baker,  Job  Haines,  Obadiah  B.  Conover,  James  Steele, 
and  John  W.  Van  Cleve.  In  1840  Collins  Wight,  long  known  as 
a  dealer  in  lumber,  taught  in  the  academy.  He  was  succeeded  in 
1844  by  Milo  G.  Williams,  a  teacher  of  large  experience  and 
reputation,  who  remained  till  1850,  when  the  academy  was 
deeded  to  the  Board  of  Education. 

Among  the  earl}^  settlers  of  Dayton  were  Henry  Bacon,  Luther 
Bruen,  and  Jonathan  Harshman  —  very  unlike,  but,  nevertheless, 
all  typical  men.  Mr.  Bacon  was  a  successful  lawyer,  and  a  man 
of  unusual  legal  as  well  as  literary  acquirements.  He  serv^ed  as 
prosecuting  attorn 63%  and  ably  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
office.  He  was  endowed  with  much  force  and  keenness  of  intel- 
lect, and  "waked  up  sometimes,  in  addressing  a  jur\',  especially 
as  a  prosecutor  of  criminal  cases,  to  flashes  of  eloquence."  Two 
grandsons  of  Henry  Bacon  are  prominent  in  Daj-ton  —  General 
Samuel  B.  and  J.  Mcl,ain   Smith. 

Luther  Bruen  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1783,  and  came  to 
Dayton  in  1804.  He  was  an  influential  and  useful  citizen,  and 
noted  for  benevolence  as  well  as  for  business  talent.  He  has  a 
number  of  descendants  —  Frank,  Robert,  and  Mary  Bruen,  Mrs. 
Sella  Wright,  David  B.,  Quincy,  and  Thomas  Corwin,  Mrs.  Susie 
Zeller,  Mrs.  Dr.  Pauley,  Mrs.  Charles  D.  Mead,  Miss  Mary  and 
Miss  Martha  and  William  Brad}-. 

Mr.  Bruen  was  a  practical  abolitionist  in  times  when  to  advo- 
cate antislavery  principles  required  both  moral  and  physical 
courage  and  enlightened  views.  A  number  of  the  founders  of 
our  city  came  to  Ohio  before'  1808  because  the}-  did  not  want  to 
bring  up  their  children  in  a  slave  State.  But  there  was  little 
active  opposition  to  what  the  father  of  one  of  them  called  "  that 
great  oppression"  till  1832,  when  a  respectable,  industrious 
colored  man,  much  liked  b}'  every  one,  a  refugee  from  Kentucky 
who  had  lived  here  three  years,  was,  in  spite  of  protests  and 
every  effort  for  his  legal  protection  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
arrested  by  a  party  of  slave  catchers.  The  law  delivered  the 
negro  over  to  his  master.  A  great  deal  of  sympathj'  and  indig- 
nation were  excited  by  this  iniquitous  proceeding,  and  citizens 


94  EARLY   DAYTON 

offered  to  buy  his  freedom  and  prevent  his  separaiion  from  his 
freeboru  wife.  The  master  declined  to  sell,  when  his  agents 
wrote  to  him,  so  valuable  a  servant,  and  came  himself  to  take 
"Black  Ben"  to  Kentucky.  Arrived  at  Cincinnati,  the  captive 
was  confined  for  the  night  in  a  fourth-story  room  of  a  hotel. 
"All  being  safe,  as  they  thought,  about  one  o'clock,  when  they 
were  in  a  sound  sleep,  poor  Ben  threw  himself  from  the  window, 
which  is  upwards  of  forty  feet  from  the  pavement."  He  was 
dreadfully  injured,  but  lived  two  days.  "A  poor  and  humble 
being  of  an  unfortunate  and  degraded  race,  the  same  feeling 
which  animated  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
to  pledge  life,  fortune,  and  honor  for  liberty  determined  him  to 
be  free  or  die.  INIr.  D.  left  this  morning  wnth  the  dead  body  of 
his  slave,  to  which  he  told  me  he  would  give  decent  burial  in  his 
own  churchyard.  Please  tell  Ben's  wife  of  these  circumstances." 
Strange  to  say,  the  words  first  quoted  are  from  a  letter  which 
Ben's  master  requested  a  friend  to  write  to  the  Dayton  Journal. 
Poor  Ben's  capture  and  suicide  were  not  forgotten  in  Dayton. 

Twent3--four  people  of  color  left  Dayton  on  October  21,  1824, 
for  Ha3-ti.  Their  expenses  were  paid  by  the  Haytian  govern- 
ment, which  was  inviting  negro  emigrants  from  the  United 
States,  and  sent  an  agent  to  New  York  to  take  charge  of  the 
large  numbers  who  were  willing  to  go  ;  but  citizens  afforded  aid, 
and  felt  much  S5'mpathy  for  those  who  went  from  Dajrton.  The 
departure  was  a  scene  of  the  greatest  excitement — wild  weeping, 
wailing,  and  shouting,  and  lamentations  over  the  separation  for 
life  from  friends  and  home ;  but  nearly  all  who  went  from  here 
soon  found  their  way  back  again  to  Daj-ton.  A  colonization 
society  was  formed  November  24,  1826,  and  the  following  gentle- 
men were  appointed  a  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions  to  the 
constitution:  Aaron  Baker,  Henrj'  Stoddard,  Luther  Bruen, 
O.  B.  Conover,  and  S.  S.  Cleveland. 

In  1S39  Luther  Bruen  was  able  to  form  an  antislavery  society, 
of  which  he  was  elected  president.  On  South  Main  Street,  west 
side,  between  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets,  a  church  known  as  the 
Union  or  Newlight  Church,  which  was  largely  built  with  money 
subscribed  by  Mr.  Bruen,  was  erected.  Here  lectures  by  famous 
antislaverj^  leaders  were  frequently  delivered.  The  meetings 
were  frequently  interrupted  and  the  speakers  treated  with  vio- 
lence and  indignit}-  hy  angry  proslaverj'  crowds.  In  1836  Dr. 
Birne}'  and  Rev.  Mr.  Rankin,  who  were  invited  to  address  an. 


1S05-1809  95 

audience  at  the  Union  Church,  barely  escaped  with  their  lives, 
and  were  hidden  away  for  some  hours,  one  at  the  residence  of 
Dr.  H.  Jewett,  a  leading  physician  and  active  Abolitionist,  and 
the  other  at  the  home  of  his  relative.  Dr.  John  Steele,  who, 
though  not  an  Abolitionist,  believed  in  justice  and  free  speech. 
The  mob  destroyed  or  injured  the  houses  of  Abolitionists  and 
negroes,  and  tore  to  pieces  the  Bible,  and  broke  the  windows  and 
stove  at  the  church.  Side  by  side  in  the  Journal  with  the 
account  of  the  organization  of  the  antislavery  society  may  be 
seen  one  of  those  coal-black  little  pictures  representing  a  bare- 
headed colored  man,  carrjang  a  bundle  hung  on  a  stick,  and  with 
negro  quarters  in  the  background,  making  all  speed  for  the  free 
States,  which  so  often  at  this  date  appeared  in  the  Dayton  news- 
papers. The  poor  fellow  is  described  as  "likely  and  pleasant 
when  spoken  to,  easily  alarmed,  and  calling  himself  Washing- 
ton, though  that  was  not  his  name." 

Jonathan  Harshman  came  to  Montgomery  County  from  Mary- 
land, at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  in  1805,  and  purchased  forty  acres 
of  land  in  what  is  now  Madriver  Township ;  but  he  and  his 
family  are  so  identified  with  Dayton  that  his  life  is  part  of  the 
history  of  the  town.  The  first  three  years  after  his  arrival  he 
spent  in  clearing  his  land,  with  the  assistance  of  his  neighbors, 
helping  them  in  turn.  In  1808  he  married  Susannah  Rench, 
daughter  of  John  Rench,  an  active  and  enterprising  business 
man,  who  did  much  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  town. 
Among  the  latter's  descendants  are  William  H.,  Johanna,  David 
C,  and  Charles  Rench. 

Mrs.  Jonathan  Harshman  was,  like  many  of  the  pioneer  women, 
of  whom  their  grandchildren  are  so  proud,  a  strong  character, 
energetic,  industrious,  and  capable  in  many  directions.  In  the 
period  now  reached  there  were  not  only  housekeeping,  cooking, 
and  sewing  to  attend  to,  but  cows  to  milk,  butter  to  churn,  poultry 
to  care  for,  the  smokehouse  to  fill  with  hams,  sausage,  and  pickled 
pork  ;  the  vegetable  garden  to  cultivate  —  in  town  as  well  as  in 
the  country.  All  these  things  were  the  duties  of  a  housekeeper, 
and  to  these  multifarious  labors  spinning  and  weaving  were 
added.  The  spinning-wheel  and  loom  were  found  in  most 
houses.  Many  yards  of  linsey-woolsey  were  woven  and  made 
into  summer  clothes  for  children  and  grown  people  ;  while  wool 
was  woven  into  blankets,  dress  goods,  cloth,  and  flannels  for 
winter  wear  by  the  mistress  of  a  family  and  her  daughters.     The 


96  EARLY   DAYTON 

"help,"  if  any  was  emploj^ed,  was  some  farmer's  daughter,  a 
friend  or  acquaintance,  who  was  literally  one  of  the  family, 
though  she  received  wages.  Frequently  the  help  was  a  bound 
girl,  an  orphan,  whom  the  county  was  obliged  to  support,  and 
whom  the  commissioners  placed  in  a  private  family  on  condition 
that  she  should  be  free  at  eighteen  and  receive  from  her  employers, 
on  leaving  them,  a  certain  sum  of  mone}-,  clothes,  and  specified 
articles  of  furniture.  No  wages  were  paid  her,  but  she  received 
for  her  work  food,  clothing,  and  lodging. 

In  addition  to  his  farming,  Mr.  Harshman  engaged  in  milling 
and  distilling,  and  opened  with  John  Rench  a  store,  trading  for 
countr}-  produce,  which  they  sent  in  flatboats  for  sale  to  Cincin- 
nati or  New  Orleans.  He  accumulated  a  large  fortune.  In  1845 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  Dayton  Bank,  and  served  until 
1850.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly 
of  Ohio.  In  earlier  years  he  was  a  stanch  Federalist,  and  later 
an  ardent  Whig.  In  1840  the  famous  Harrison  convention  was 
held  in  Dayton  on  the  loth  of  September.  General  Harrison,  on 
his  journey  to  Dayton,  reached  Jonathan  Harshman's,  five  miles 
from  town,  on  the  evening  of  the  9th,  and  spent  the  night  there. 
Early  in  the  morning,  his  escort,  which  had  been  encamped  at 
Fairview,  marched  to  Mr.  Harshman's  residence,  and  halted  till 
seven  o'clock  for  breakfast,  when  it  got  in  motion  under  com- 
mand of  Joseph  Barnett,  of  Dayton,  and  other  marshals  from 
Clark  County.  Mr.  Harshman  died  in  1850,  and  his  wife  in 
1839.  They  had  eight  children.  Elizabeth  married  Israel 
Huston,  Catherine  married  Valentine  Winters,  Jonathan  married 
Abigail  Hiveling.  These  are  all  deceased,  as  are  Mary,  who 
became  the  wife  of  George  Gorman,  and  Susannah,  who  married 
Daniel  Beckel.  Three  sons — Joseph,  George  W.,  and  Reuben — 
survive. 

In  the  fall  election  of  1808  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  votes 
were  cast  at  the  Dayton  Court-house.  This  year  the  first  brick 
residence  erected  in  town,  a  substantial,  comfortable,  two-story 
dwelling,  was  built  by  Henry  Brown  on  the  west  side  of  Main 
Street  on  the  alley  between  Second  and  Third  streets.  It  was  occu- 
pied till  1863  as  a  dwelling,  and  from  then  till  it  was  torn  down 
as  a  newspaper  ofiice.  Mr.  Brown  kept  in  his  stable  a  cannon, 
which,  not  so  much  because  it  was  taken  down  to  the  river  bank 
by  an  excited  crowd  and  fired  on  the  very  rare  occasions  when 
there  was  anything  to  celebrate  in  Dayton,  as  on  account  of  its 


1805- 1 8o9  97 

imposing  name,  "Mad  Anthony,"  was  an  object  of  awe  and  curi- 
osity to  all  the  boys  and  girls  in  town.  Mr.  Brown  was  engaged 
in  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  had  obtained  this  cannon  from 
them  in  exchange  for  his  merchandise.  It  had  been  abandoned 
in  the  woods  by  one  of  the  regiments  of  the  Western  army.  As 
it  was  the  only  cannon  in  town  for  many  years,  it  was  quite  an 
important  possession.  Finally  it  burst,  killing  the  patriotic 
gunner  who  was  firing  it.  At  one  time  a  company  of  mounted 
rangers  was  formed  in  Da3'ton,  and  called  for  the  cannon  the  Mad 
Anthon}'  Troop.  When  Mr.  Brown  first  brought  it  here,  it  used 
to  be  fired  on  the  vacant  lots  on  Main  Street,  opposite  his  house. 

Rev.  James  Welsh,  M.D.,  and  Dr.  John  Elliott,  a  retired  army 
surgeon,  both  alread}'  mentioned,  were  interesting  characters  of 
this  period.  Dr.  Welsh  was  pastor  of  the  First  Presb3-terian 
Church  from  1804  to  181 7,  and  also  practiced  medicine  and  kept 
a  drug-store.  Notices  to  delinquent  patients  over  his  signature, 
like  the  following,  frequentlj^  appeared  in  the  newspapers :  "I 
must  pay  my  debts.  To  do  this  is  impracticable  unless  those 
■who  are  indebted  to  me  pay  me  what  they  owe.  All  such  are 
once  more,  for  the  last  time,  called  on  to  come  forward  and  make 
payment  before  the  25th  of  March  next,  or,  disagreeable  as  it  is, 
compulsor}^  measures  may  be  certainly  expected."  The  death 
of  Dr.  Elliott,  who  died  in  1809,  was  considered  a  great  loss  to  the 
community,  as  he  was  socially  and  professionally  popular.  The 
Repertory  contained  a  eulogistic  obituary,  and  not  only  citizens, 
but  large  numbers  from  the  countr}^  attended  his  funeral.  He 
was  buried  with  martial  honors,  and  Captain  James  Steele's 
troop  of  horse  and  Captain  Paul  Butler's  company  of  infantry 
headed  the  procession  to  the  Sixth-Street  cemetery.  These  two 
m.ilitary  organizations  were  probabl}'  formed  for  defense  against 
the  Indians,  at  this  date  restive  and  threatening. 

Between  1808  and  1810  Da^'ton  began  to  grow  and  prosper.  Two 
editors,  a  minister,  a  lawyer,  a  school-teacher,  and  three  physi- 
cians were  numbered  among  the  inhabitants,  and  there  were  five 
stores  and  three  taverns,  all  doing  well.  A  square  or  two  on 
First  Street,  and  the  west  side  of  Main  Street  from  Newcom's 
Tavern  to  the  Court-hovise  alley,  except  the  corner  on  which 
stood  McCullum's  Tavern,  and  the  site  of  Reid's  Inn,  were 
occupied  by  residences,  separated  from  each  other  b}'  several 
vacant  lots.  The  east  side  of  Main  Street  was  not  built  up,  and 
was  covered  with  hazel  bushes  and  wild  fruit-trees,  except  the 

7 


98  EARLY   DAYTON 

lots  from  the  High  School  alley  to  the  southeast  corner  of  Main 
and  First  streets,  which  were  occupied  by  Grimes's  Tavern  and 
Cooper  &  Compton's  and  Steele  &  Peirce's  stores.  The  first-named 
store  fronted  on  First  Street.  Dwellings  were  built  close  to  the 
pavement,  with  no  ground  between,  but  there  were  large  yards 
at  the  side  and  back  of  the  houses.  Streets  were  not  graveled, 
no  care  was  taken  of  walks,  and  fences  were  of  the  stake-and- 
rider  or  post-and-rail  order. 

Grimes's  Tavern  stood  on  the  south  corner  of  the  first  alley 
south  of  Monument  Avenue.  It  was  a  one-storj-and-a-half  log 
house,  and  in  the  alley  back  of  it  were  a  log  barn  and  feed-jard. 
A  few  years  later,  when  it  had  ceased  to  be  kept  by  its  original 
owner,  several  frame  additions  and  a  large  dining-room  having 
been  added,  it  became  a  popular  place  for  parties  and  balls. 
Colonel  John  Grimes,  the  proprietor,  was  the  father  of  Alexander 
Grimes,  and  the  grandfather  of  Charles  G.  Grimes.  Alexander 
Grimes  was  for  many  years  (1831-1843)  cashier  of  the  Da^-ton 
Bank,  and  also  in  1819  a  director.  No  one  was  more  thoroughly 
identified  with  this  bank  than  he.  On  the  ist  of  January,  1843, 
he,  as  agent,  closed  up  the  affairs  of  the  bank.  At  an  earlj'  day 
he  was  in  partnership  with  Steele  and  Feirce,  under  the  name  of 
Grimes  &  Company.  In  1817  the  firm  was  dissolved.  Mr. 
Grimes  married,  first,  Miss  Gordon,  and,  second,  Miss  Maria 
Greene,  a  member  of  a  leading  Dayton  family.  In  connection 
with  Edward  Davies,  he  was  trustee  of  the  estate  of  David 
Zeigler  Cooper,  heir  of  D.  C.  Cooper.  The  property  rapidly 
increased  in  value,  and  was  also  a  great  benefit  to  Dayton  as  a 
result  of  their  prudent  and  liberal  management.  Mr.  Grimes 
served  in  the  War  of  1S12. 

Reid's  Inn  stood  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  between  First 
and  Second  streets,  the  present  site  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
The  proprietor  earned  his  title  by  service  in  the  War  of  1812.  He 
was  in  command  of  the  First  Battalion  of  the  First  Regiment  of 
Ohio  Militia.  The  inn  parlor  was  a  favorite  place  for  public 
meetings,  in  which  Colonel  Reid  was  a  leading  spirit,  and  in  the 
large  barn^-ard  for  3'ears  the  menageries  and  museums  which 
visited  the  town  annually  alwaj-s  gave  their  exhibitions.  The 
"Inn  or  House  of  Entertainmentl" — as,  to  escape  the  tavern 
license  of  ten  dollars,  it  was  called. in  the  advertisement  inserted 
in  the  newspaper  —  kept  by  Colonel  Reid  was  a  frame  building 
two  stories  high,  with  a  belfry  for  the  dinner-bell.     On  the  large 


1805- iSog  99 

sign  which,  after  the  War  of  1812,  hung  in  a  square  frame  from 
a  tall  post  on  the  edge  of  the  sidewalk,  was  painted  a  portrait 
of  Commodore  Lawrence,  and  a  scroll  bearing  the  words,  "Don't 
give  up  the  ship."  The  original  small  sign  of  the  tavern,  "Reid's 
Inn,"  hung  below  the  larger  one.  Mr.  Samuel  Forrer,  who  staid 
at  the  inn  in  1818,  when  he  spent  some  time  here,  not  then 
having  become  a  permanent  resident,  "enjoying  the  hospitalities 
of  the  place,  and  the  pleasures  derived  from  the  manly  sports  of 
those  times,"  describes  Colonel  Reid  as  "  a  good  man  and  excel- 
lent landlord."  To  Colonel  Reid's  very  competent  and  energetic 
wife  was,  of  course,  due  the  bountiful,  well-cooked  meals  and 
comfortable  beds  of  Reid's  Inn. 

On  the  i8th  of  September,  1808,  William  McClure  and  George 
Smith  began  to  edit  and  publish  the  second  Da3-ton  newspaper, 
the  Repertory.  It  contained  four  pages  of  two  columns  each,  was 
eight  b}-  twelve  and  one-half  inches  in  size,  and  printed  with 
old-fashioned  type  on  a  second-hand  press.  When  five  numbers 
had  appeared,  it  was  suspended  till  1809,  when  Henry  Disbrow 
and  William  McClure  revived  it  as  a  twelve-b3--twenty-inch  sheet. 
It  was  published  on  Second  Street,  between  Main  and  Jefferson 
streets,  till  1810,  when  it  ceased  to  exist.  It  was  principally 
filled  with  foreign  news  several  months  old,  but  some  local  items 
can  be  gleaned  from  the  file  in  the  Public  Library.  Paul  D. 
Butler  advertises  his  ' '  large  and  commodious  house  for  sale  ;  will 
answer  for  almost  any  business  ;  good  well  and  pump  at  the 
door,  frame  stable."  Henry  Disbrow  offers  a  house  and  two 
lots,  agreeing  to  take  in  payment  "such  produce  as  will  suit  the 
Orleans  market,"  instead  of  cash,  describing  the  property  as 
' '  an  elegant  two-story  frame  house  [  not  all  the  houses  were  log 
at  this  date],  forty-five  feet  front  and  twenty-four  feet  back;  a 
good  kitchen  adjoining  ;  good  well  of  water  at  the  door  ;  good 
nail  factory  and  stable  ;  situation  good  for  either  tavern  or  store ; 
post-and-rail  fence."  Advertisements  are  inserted  by  John 
Compton,  H.  G.  Phillips,  and  Steele  &  Peirce,  merchants ;  John 
Dodson,  carpenter ;  John  Hanna,  weaving  establishment,  south 
end  of  Main  Street;  John  Strain  &  Co.,  nail  factory;  James 
Beck,  blue-dying  establishment;  David  Steele,  cooper-shop,  First 
Street,  near  St.  Clair  ;  Thomas  Nutt,  tailor ;  Matthew  Patton, 
cabinet-maker.  The  advertisement  of  Mr.  Patton  is  found  in 
every  number  of  the  paper,  showing  that  he  had  something  of 
the  modern  enterprise  in  this  respect.   He  served  as  first  corporal 


lOO  EARLY    DAYTOX 

in  Captain  Steele's  company  in  1812.  He  lived  to  an  old  age  in 
Dayton  and  was  highly  respected  and  esteemed.  He  was  the 
father  of  Captain  William  Patton,  and  has  several  grandchildren. 
One  of  the  earliest  settlers  and  business  men  was  Abram 
Darst,  who  came  here  from  Virginia  in  1805.  "He  was  a  man 
of  sterling  integrity,  highl}'  esteemed  by  the  conimunit}',  and 
occupied  manj^  positions  of  trust  and  usefulness.  Mr.  Darst 
died  in  1865,  aged  eightj' -three.  His  wife  lived  to  be  ninety-five, 
dying  in  1882.  She  was  a  remarkable  character,  a  tj'pical  pioneer 
woman,  full  of  energy,  and  gifted  with  the  facult\-  of  taking 
excellent  care  of  a  large  household,  and  at  the  same  time  assist- 
ing her  husband  in  his  business,  as  was  the  almost  universal 
custom  in  that  day. ' '  Life  here  was  very  much  what  it  is  at  the 
present  day  among  educated  people  in  many  a  far  Western  set- 
tlement, who  have  gone  west  to  make  their  fortunes.  American 
women,  when  there  is  need  of  special  effort,  always  prove  that 
their  sex  in  America  has  not  degenerated  during  the  past  one 
hundred  years.  Many  a  lesson  of  cheerfulness,  patience,  indus- 
try, and  thrift  might  be  learned  from  the  laborious,  but  contented, 
and,  in  the  end,  prosperous  lives  of  the  wives  of  the  founders  of 
Dayton.  One  of  our  wealthiest  old  merchants  attributed  his 
success  largely  to  the  assistance  of  his  wife,  brought  up  in  a 
fashionable  circle  in  an  Eastern  city.  What  was  true  of  her  was 
true  of  many  others.  When  Robert  Edgar  was  absent  in  the 
army  during  the  War  of  1812,  his  wife  remained  alone  with  her 
family  in  her  lonely  cabin,  on  the  site  of  the  Water  Works,  not 
only  doing  all  the  work  of  her  household  herself,  but  taking 
charge  of  the  farm,  so  that  when  her  husband  returned  things 
were  not  much  less  prosperous  with  them  than  when  he  left.  But 
think  of  the  burden  of  responsibility,  labor,  and  anxiety  that 
Mrs.  Edgar  and  other  wives  of  soldiers  of  1812  bore  in  that  dark 
era.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Darst  had  ten  children,  of  whom  Miss  Phebe 
and  Mr.  John  W.  Darst  alone  survive.  Julia  married  James 
Perrine ;  Christina,  W.  B.  Dix;  Mar>',  Jacob  Wilt;  Sarah,  W.'C. 
Davis  ;  Martha,  George  M.  Dixon;  and  Napoleon  B.,  Susannah, 
daughter  of  Valentine  Winters,  so  that  Abram  Darst  has  many 
descendants  in  Dayton.  We  can  only  mention  A.  D.  Wilt, 
Charles  W.,  Fred  T.,  Johnson  P.,  Samuel  B.,  and  Rolla  Darst, 
Mrs.  Edward  Fuller,  Mrs.  Joseph  E.  Bimm,  Miss  Fanny  and 
Miss  Mary  Dixon,  Mrs.  George  W.  Shaw,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Barney, 
Miss  Martha  Perrine,  who  are  grandchildren. 


■FIRST  PRESBYTEKIAX  CHURCH,  1839-1867. 


CHAPTER  VI 

1809-1812 

William  Eakeb— George  W.  Smith  — Roads— Journeys  to  the  East  — Goods 
Brought  by  Conestoga  "Wagons  and  Broadhorns  to  Ohio  —  Packhorses 
Moving  Up  Main  Street  — Groceries  from  New  Orleans  by  Keel-Boats  — A 
Voyage  from  New  Orleans  Described  —Country  Stores— Drinking  Customs 

—  Flatboating  South— Excitement  When  the  Fleets  of  Boats  Left  Dayton 

—  Arrival  of  a  Large  Keel-Boat  — Fourth  of  July  from  1809  to  1840— The 
First  Drug-Store — Indians  and  Wild  Animals  Both  Troublesome  —  Re- 
wards for  Wolf-Scalps  — New  Sidewalks  and  Ditches  or  Gutters— O/iio 
Centinel — Earthquakes  — William  Huflfman  — Ohio  Militia  Encamped  at 
Dayton  — Business  Beginning  of  1812— Horatio  G.  Phillips— J.  D.  Phillips 

—  Obadiah  B.  Conover. 

No  TWO  Daytonians  were  ever  more  useful  and  prominent  than 
William  Eaker  and  George  W.  Smith.  For  a  time  they  were  in 
partnership.  Mr.  Eaker  came  here  from  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania, 
at  a  very  early  day.  He  opened  a  store  on  Main  Street  in 
i8ii,  removing  later  to  old  Market  or  Second  Street,  where  he 
continued  in  business  till  his  death  in  1848,  making  a  large 
fortune.  He  was  a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  first  Dayton 
bank,  founded  in  1813,  and  remained  a  director  till  the  bank 
ceased  business  in  1843.  His  store  was  very  popular  with  cus- 
tomers, and  he  was  indeed  a  general  favorite  in  business  and 
social  circles,  and  noted  for  kind  deeds.  Probity,  integrity,  and 
goodness  of  heart  were  traits  of  character  continually  manifested 
by  him  during  the  course  of  his  long  residence  here,  and  gained 
him  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all.  He  was  a  stanch  friend 
to  all  young  men  just  entering  business,  as  at  the  time  of  his 
death  many  prominent  merchants  and  manufacturers  were  ready 
to  testify.  He  was  always  a  generous  supporter  of  efforts  to 
improve  the  town.  He  gave  liberally  to  churches  and  charitable 
institutions.  "At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War,  he  was 
one  of  the  committee  of  citizens  who  pledged  themselves  to  look 
after  the  families  of  volunteers,  and  to  care  for  them  in  case  the 
soldiers  did  not  return.  In  every  case  these  pledges  were  sacredly 
kept."     In   181 7  he  married  Letitia  Lowry,  who  survived  him 

101 


I02  EARLY   DAYTON 

tliirtj'-four  3'ears.  She  was  born  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  in  1799.  Her  father,  Archibald  Lowry,  was  the  son 
of  David  Lowry,  of  Donnel's  Creek,  who  came  to  the  site  of 
Dayton  with  the  surve3'ing  party  in  1795.  He  is  mentioned  in 
an  earlier  chapter  as  the  first  to  send  a  flatboat  south  from  Day- 
ton, in  1799.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eaker  are  represented  in  Dayton  bj- 
their  only  daughter,  Miss  Belle  Eaker.  The  three  sons — Frank, 
Charles,  and  William  Eaker — are  decea.sed. 

George  W.  Smith,  a  native  of  England,  came  to  Dayton  from 
Virginia  in  1804,  and  lived  here  till  his  death  in  1841,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-seven.  After  dissolving  partnership  with  Mr.  Eaker, 
he  was  in  business  with  Robert  A.  Edgar,  and  later  with  his 
son  George.  As  he  was  a  merchant,  he  was  of  course  engaged 
in  flatboating  to  the  south.  He  built,  near  what  is  now  known 
as  Harries  Station,  extensive  flouring-mills,  a  distillery,  and 
houses  for  his  workmen,  calling  the  place  Sniithville.  He  was  a 
man  of  wealth,  and  left  a  large  estate.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss 
Todd.  Their  two  children  died  young.  He  married,  second, 
Eliza  Manning,  and  they  had  five  children :  James  Manning, — 
lately  deceased,  leaving  one  daughter.  Miss  Lida  Smith, — married 
Miss  Caroline  Shoup ;  George  W.  ;  Sophia,  married  Isaac  H. 
Kiersteid ;  Louisa,  married  Captain  Fletcher,  U.  S.  A.  ;  Ann, 
deceased,  married  W.  G.  Sheeley. 

Roads,  narrow,  muddy,  or  cut  up  into  deep  ruts,  were  now 
opened  to  Piqua,  New  Lexington,  Salem,  Greenville,  Xenia, 
Germantown,  Lebanon,  Franklin,  and  Miamisburg.  Two  years 
later  a  bridle-path  was  cut  to  Vincennes,  two  hundred  miles 
distant.  The  State  Road,  known  as  the  "Old  Corduroy  Road," 
which  ran  east  and  west  through  town,  was  built  the  same 
year.  This  was  a  road  only  in  name,  being  almost  impassable 
in  wet  weather.  Mud-holes  and  low  places  were  filled  with 
poles,  which  floated,  and  through  which  the  horses'  feet  would 
sink.  Travelers  were  delayed  for  hours  by  such  mishaps.  In  1812 
three  roads  used  by  the  army  were  kept  in  tolerable  condition. 
With  this  exception,  till  1839  roads  were  either  so  muddy  or  so 
rough  that  it  was  difficult  to  drive  or  ride  over  them.  Roads 
were  poor  even  in  more  thickly  settled  regions.  The  journeys 
of  our  Daj'ton  merchants  to  Philadelphia  to  buy  goods,  and  of 
their  wives  to  the  old  homes  in  the  East,  were  made  on  horse- 
back, with  clothes  packed  in  saddlebags,  and  babies  carried  in  a 
net  swung  around  the  father's  neck,  and  resting  on  the  pommel 


1809- i8i2  103 

of  his  saddle.  The  bridgeless  streams  had  to  be  forded.  "Is 
he  a  good  swimmer?"  was  a  common  question,  when  a  man 
was  trying  to  sell  a  horse  to  a  customer.  It  was  necessary  to 
carry  arms,  as  the  road  for  miles  passed  through  unsettled  forests, 
along  an  unbroken  track,  marked  only  by  blazed  trees  and  where 
Indians  and  wild  beasts  lurked.  Travelers  usually  camped  for 
the  night,  and  ate  and  slept  on  the  ground.  The  journey  east 
could  be  made  from  Cincinnati  to  Pittsburg  in  a  flatboat,  but 
public  conve3-ances  of  any  kind  were  unknown. 

Goods  for  Dayton  merchants  were  brought  as  far  as  Pittsburg 
from  Philadelphia,  then  the  center  of  trade,  in  Conestoga  wagons, 
and  from  Pittsburg  to  Cincinnati  by  river  in  "broadhorns"  ; 
thence  they  were  either  poled  up  the  Miami,  or  brought  here  on 
packhorses.  It  was  a  common  sight  to  see  long  line-teams, 
—  often  a  dozen  horses  tied  together, —  in  single  file,  the  leader 
wearing  a  bell,  and  each  horse  carrying  two  hundred  pounds, 
moving  up  Main  Street.  A  train  of  this  length  was  accompanied 
by  three  or  four  men,  equipped  with  rifle,  ammunition,  ax,  and 
blankets.  Game  in  the  woods  supplied  them  with  food.  Men 
were  stationed  at  each  end,  to  take  care  of  the  leader  and  hind 
horse,  keep  the  train  in  motion,  and  watch  over  the  goods.  Some- 
times the  train  was  composed  of  loose  horses,  taught  to  follow 
each  other  without  being  fastened  together.  Bells  were  attached 
at  night  to  all  the  horses,  and  then  they  were  turned  out  to  graze. 

Occasionally  Dayton  merchants  purchased  groceries  brought 
up  from  New  Orleans  to  Cincinnati  in  keel-boats  or  barges,  and 
hauled  here,  about  1812, — when  the  army  kept  the  road  in  toler- 
able condition, —  in  wagons. 

The  difficulties  of  an  up-stream  voyage  are  described  in  the 
following  letter,  written  from  Cincinnati,  December  29,  1812,  bj' 
Baum  &  Perry  to  Steele  &  Peirce,  and  found  among  the  papers 
of  the  latter  firm  nearly  eighty  years  after  they  received  it :  "We 
have  just  had  the  arrival  of  our  barge  from  New  Orleans.  She 
was  delayed  at  the  falls  for  nearl}'  two  weeks  before  she  could 
get  over,  detained  five  or  six  days  waiting  for  the  loading  to  be 
hauled  from  the  lower  landing  to  the  upper,  and  finally  had  to 
come  away  with  part  of  her  cargo  only,  there  being  no  wagons 
to  be  had,  and  ever  since  she  left  that  j^lace  has  been  obliged  to 
force  her  way  for  two  weeks  past  through  the  ice.  These  are  the 
circumstances  which  prevented  her  coming  sooner.  Knowing 
that  sugar  is  much  wanting  at  your  place,  have  thought  it  advis- 


I04  EARLY   DAYTON 

able  to  load  Mr.  Enoch's  wagon,  and  let  it  proceed  to  your  town 
with  that  article,  to  wit,  with  six  boxes,  weighing  as  follows : 
438  pounds  for  Mr.  Henry  Brown ;  448  pounds.  Cooper  &  Bur- 
net;  432  pounds,  Isaac  Spining;  480  pounds,  Robert  Wilson  ;  510 
pounds,  Steele  &  Peirce  ;  430  pounds,  Major  Churchill."  Freight- 
age by  wagon  was  one  dollar  per  hundredweight.  If  a  single 
box  of  sugar  were  taken,  the  price  was  twenty  cents  a  pound, 
and  eighteen  and  three-quarter  cents  per  pound  was  charged  if 
three  boxes  were  bought. 

Dayton  merchants  kept  genuine  country  stores,  and  sold  a 
very  miscellaneous  variety  of  articles.  In  front,  close  to  the 
street,  hitching-posts  and  feed-boxes  were  provided.  Bottles  of 
various  kinds  of  liquor,  principally  whisk}-, — regarded  in  those 
da3's,  according  to  Curwen,  as  "the  elixir  and  solace  of  life," 
even  by  ministers  and  their  most  conscientious  parishioners, — 
were  displayed,  flanked  by  glasses,  on  the  counter,  customers 
being  expected  to  help  themselves.  Purchases  were  usually 
paid  for  in  wheat,  rye,  corn,  beeswax,  tallow,  corn-fed  pork,  and 
similar  products  that  would  sell  at  New  Orleans ;  but  cash  was 
demanded  if  the  grain,  pork,  etc.,  could  not  be  delivered  in  time 
for  the  annual  spring  trip  south  by  flatboat. 

Flatboating  south  was  a  necessity,  for  there  was  no  sale  in 
Ohio  for  the  articles  received  in  exchange  for  goods  by  our  mer- 
chants. The  Great  Miami  was  down  on  the  map  as  a  navigable 
stream,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  flatboating  era,  and  later, 
there  were  many  attempts  to  introduce  steamboats.  Until  1828 
our  merchants  depended  principally  upon  keel-boats,  built  some- 
what like  canal-boats,  and  on  flatboats  for  their  connection  with 
New  Orleans,  the  only  market  for  Western  produce.  Flatboat- 
men  sold  their  boats  —  only  used  in  descending  streams,  and  kept 
in  the  channel  by  long,  sweeping  oars,  fastened  at  both  ends  of  the 
boat  —  when  they  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  purchased  a  horse,  and 
rode  home.  The  boats  were  inclosed  and  roofed  with  boards.  On 
account  of  changes  or  obstructions  in  the  channel  or  low  water,  it 
sometimes  took  a  Dayton  boat  three  weeks  to  reach  Cincinnati. 

May  24,  1809,  the  Repertory  contains  the  first  notice  of  a 
Daj'ton  flatboat  published  here.  It  says:  "A  flat-bottomed 
boat,  owned  by  Mr.  Compton,  of  this  place,  descended  the  Great 
Miami  yesterday.  She  was  loaded  with  pork,  flour,  bacon,  and 
whisky,  and  destined  for  Fort  Adams."  lyater  it  is  stated  that 
"  Mr.  Compton's  boat  got  safely  through  to  the  Ohio.     Notwith- 


iSo9-i8i2  105 

standing  the  representations  made  of  the  dangers  of  navigating 
the  Great  Miami,  we  are  well  convinced  that  nothing  is  wanting 
but  care  and  attention  to  take  our  boats  with  safety  from  this 
place."  Among  the  dangers  encountered  were  dams  and  fish- 
baskets,  or  traps,  which  often  wrecked  the  boats.  Sometimes 
boatmen  destroyed,  or  tried  to  destroy,  these  obstructions,  the 
owners  defending  their  property,  and  serious  or  fatal  injuries 
resulting  on  both  sides. 

Between  1809  and  18 10  Paul  Butler  and  Henry  Disbrow  estab- 
lished a  freight  line  of  keel-boats  between  Dayton,  Laramie,  and 
St.  Mary's,  connecting  our  town  with  Lake  Erie  by  way  of  the 
Miami,  Auglaize,  and  Maumee  rivers.  They  built  the  two  keel- 
boats  used  for  this  line  in  the  middle  of  Main  Street,  in  front  of 
the  Court-house.  When  finished,  they  were  moved  on  rollers  up 
Main  Street  to  the  river  and  launched.  Nine  flatboats  left  on  the 
13th  or  14th  of  May,  181 1,  for  New  Orleans.  A  private  letter 
dated  Dayton,  March  28,  1812,  says  :  "  We  had  a  snowstorm  on 
Sunday  last,  eight  inches  deep,  but,  as  it  went  oif  immediately,  it 
did  not  swell  the  river  sufiiciently  to  let  Phillips  and  Smith's 
boat  out."  It  was  customary  for  boats  to  wait  for  a  freshet  before 
starting.  At  the  head  of  Wilkinson  Street  stood  for  many  years 
Broadwell's  old  red  warehouse,  where  shipments  were  made,  and 
which  was  the  scene  in  the  spring  of  much  hurry,  bustle,  and 
business.  It  was  swept  down  stream  itself  in  the  flood  of  1828. 
Boats  built  up  the  river  used  to  come  here,  tie  up,  and  wait  for  a 
freshet,  when  all  the  boats  bound  for  New  Orleans  would  set  oflF 
together  in  a  fleet.  The  departure  of  the  fleet  was  an  exciting 
event  to  farmers,  distillers,  millers,  merchants,  teamsters,  boat- 
men, and  the  people  generally,  as  the  following  description  from 
the  Dayton  Watchman  of  May  26,  1825,  indicates:  "Rain  had 
fallen  on  Wednesday,  and  continued  till  Friday,  when  the  river 
rose.  The  people  flocked  to  the  banks,  returning  with  cheerful 
countenances,  saying,  'The  boats  will  get  off".'  On  Saturday  all 
was  the  busy  hum  of  a  seaport ;  wagons  were  conveying  flour,  po;-k, 
whisky,  etc.,  to  the  different  boats  strung  along  the  river.  Sev- 
eral arrived  during  the  day  from  the  north.  On  Sunday  morning 
others  came  down,  the  water  began  to  fall,  and  the  boats,  carrying 
about  forty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  the  produce  of  the  coun- 
try, got  under  way."  In  May,  1819,  the  Watchman  announces,  as 
a  matter  of  public  rejoicing,  the  arrival  of  a  keel-boat  from  Cin- 
cinnati belonging  to  H.  G.  Phillips  and  ISIessrs.  Smith  &  Eaker. 


I06  EARLY   DAYTON 

It  was  the  first  keel-boat  that  had  for  a  number  of  years,  on  ac- 
count of  obstructions,  ascended  the  INIiami.  The  boat  was  over 
sevent}-  feet  long,  and  carried  twelve  tons  of  merchandise. 

The  Fourth  of  Jul}'^  was  a  grand  occasion  in  Dayton  in  the  first 
qviarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  A  public  meeting  was  held 
beforehand,  at  which  a  committee  of  arrangements  was  appointed. 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  Owen  Davis,  and  William  M.  Smith  served 
in  1809.  The  militia  and  the  people  from  town  and  country, 
forming  on  the  river  bank  at  the  head  of  Main  Street,  marched 
in  procession  to  the  Court-house.  Here  they  heard  an  oration 
and  patriotic  songs  ;  after  which,  reforming,  they  marched  to  the 
house  of  Henry  Disbrow,  where  an  elegant  dinner  was  served, 
tickets  costing  fifty  cents.  Toasts  were  drunk  and  salutes  were 
fired  by  the  military  companies,  commanded  by  Captain  Butler 
and  Captain  Steele.  The  afternoon  was  spent  in  sports  and 
games,  and  there  was  a  dance  in  the  evening.  In  1810  there  was 
also  a  procession  from  the  river  to  the  Court-house,  where  the 
following  exercises  were  listened  to  :  Singing  of  an  ode,  prayer 
by  Dr.  Welsh,  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  by 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  and  an  oration  by  Joseph  H.  Crane.  "The 
oration  was  eloquent  and  well  adapted  to  the  occasion."  At 
noon  there  was  a  public  dinner  served  under  a  bower,  where 
seventeen  toasts  were  drunk,  a  salute  being  fired  as  each  toast 
was  given. 

In  181 1  Dr.  N.  Edwards,  Joseph  H.  Crane,  and  Joseph  Peirce 
were  the  committee  of  arrangements.  The  procession  was 
preceded  by  a  sermon  from  Dr.  Welsh,  and  followed  at  the 
Court-house  by  the  UvSual  exercises,  Joseph  H.  Crane  reading  the 
Declaration,  and  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  delivering  the  oration. 
This  year  political  animosity,  hitherto  unknown  in  Dayton, 
had  become  so  bitter  that  members  of  the  two  parties  declined 
to  dine  together,  as  had  been  the  custom  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  and  unite  in  drinking  toasts  prepared  by  the  committee 
of  arrangements.  There  were  two  dinners,  each  under  a  bower 
prepared  for  the  occasion  ;  one  at  Mr.  Strain's  and  the  other  at 
Mr.  Graham's,  formerly  Newcom's.  Each  compan}-  drank 
seventeen  patriotic  toasts,  and  then  an  eighteenth  toast,  express- 
ing their  political  opinions.  Mr.  Graham's  guests  drank  to  the 
accompaniment  of  a  discharge  of  small  arms  the  "Health  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  Late  President  of  the  United  States."  At 
Mr.  Strain's  the  final  toast  was,  "May  our  young  Americans 


1809- i8i2  107 

have  firmness  enough  to  defend  their  rights  without  joining 
any  Tammany  club  or  society."  And  it  was  drunk  "under  a 
discharge  of  cannon  and  loud  and  repeated  cheerings."  There 
was  the  usual  military  parade  in  the  afternoon  and  a  dance  in  the 
evening.  Military  companies  were  popular  and  militia  trainings 
gala  occasions.  Business  was  suspended  and  crowds  flocked  into 
town  to  witness  the  drill  and  parade,  when,  as  on  September  17, 
18 ro.  Colonel  Jerome  Holt  assembled  the  Fifth  Regiment  for 
training  purposes. 

In  1815  the  young  ladies  of  Dayton  were  invited  to  join  the. 
Fourth-of-July  procession,  assembling  at  Colonel  Grimes's  tavern. 
After  the  speeches,  etc.,  at  the  Court-house,  the  procession 
marched  to  Republican  Spring,  where  ladies  and  gentlemen 
dined  together,  as  had  not  been  the  custom  before  on  the  national 
holiday.  In  1816  the  public  meeting  to  make  preparations  for  the 
Fourth  of  July  was  held  at  Reid's  Inn.  Dr.  John  Steele  acted  as 
chairman,  and  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  as  secretary,  and  Captain 
James  Steele,  Dr.  Charles  Este,  George  W.  Smith,  Fielding  Gos- 
ney,  James  Lodge,  Colonel  John  Anderson,  and  David  Grifiin 
were  appointed  a  committee  of  arrangements.  After  the  proces- 
sion on  the  Fourth,  Dr.  Charles  Este  read  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  Washington's  farewell 
address.  One  hundred  persons  dined  together  at  the  house  of 
Captain  J.  Rhea.  Isaac  Spining  presided,  and  William  George  and 
Dr.  Este  were  chosen  vice-presidents  of  the  occasion.  Nineteen 
patriotic  toasts  were  drunk  with  great  hilarity.  At  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  town  and  coun- 
try "partook  of  a  magnificent  repast,  furnished  by  the  ladies,  in 
the  shade  of  the  adjacent  woods."  In  the  evening  there  was  a 
concert  of  vocal  music  at  Mr.  Bomberger's  residence  and  a  ball  at 
Colonel  Reid's  inn. 

In  1822  new  features  were  introduced.  Church  bells  were  rung 
and  cannons  fired  at  daj^break  and  a  flag  run  up  on  the  town  flag- 
staff". The  exercises  were  held  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  procession  was  headed  by  the  newly  raised  light  infantrj- 
companies  and  riflemen.  Captain  Grimes's  company  wore  a  5'el- 
low  roundabout  coat,  green  collar  and  cuffs,  white  pantaloons, 
and  red  leggings.  Captain  Dodds's  compan\'  were  dressed  in 
white  roundabout,  trimmed  with  black  cord,  pantaloons  the 
same,  and  a  citizen's  hat  with  red  feather.  Captain  Dixon's 
riflemen  wore  blue  cloth  roundabouts,  trimmed  with  white  cord, 


Io8  EARLY   DAYTON 

and  white  pantaloons.  Captain  Windbrenner's  men  were  dressed 
in  gray  cloth  coatees,  trimmed  with  black  cord,  and  pantaloons 
to  correspond.  After  the  militia  came  four  Revolutionary  veter- 
ans—  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  Simeon  Broadwell,  Richard 
Bacon,  and  Isaac  Spining,  guarding  the  American  flag  and  lib- 
erty cap.  Judge  Crane  read  the  Declaration,  and  Stephen  Fales 
"delivered  a  highly  interesting  and  animating  oration."  The 
music  "  would  have  done  honor  to  any  place,  and  reflected  great 
credit  on  the  singers."  The  gentlemen  dined  at  Mr.  Squier's 
tavern.  Judge  Crane  being  elected  president  of  the  day,  and 
Judge  Steele  and  H.  G.  Phillips  vice-presidents.  After  the  reg- 
ular toasts,  the  following  volunteer  toasts  were  given  :  By  Judge 
Crane,  "  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  Able  and  Persevering  Supporter  of 
Internal  Improvements";  by  Judge  Steele,  " The  Contemplated 
Canal  from  the  Waters  of  INIad  River  to  Those  of  the  Ohio  "  ;  by 
Stephen  Fales,  "The  Memory  of  General  Wa3'ne,  the  Deliverer 
of  Ohio";  by  Colonel  Stebbins,  ofi&cer  of  the  day,  "The  Presi- 
dent of  the  Da3'  —  a  Descendant  of  a  Revolutionarj^  Ofiicer,  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  this  place,  and  who  has  borne  the  heat  and 
burden  of  the  day  with  us  :  as  distinguished  for  his  modest}^  as 
his  worth,  his  is  the  popularity  that  follows,  not  that  which  is 
pursued  " ;  by  Judge  Spining,  "  Ma}'  the  cause  that  first  inspired 
the  heroes  of  '76  to  shake  off"  the  chains  of  slavery  be  very  dear, 
and  supported  by  all  true  Americans";  by  the  four  Revolution- 
ary veterans,  "The  Heroes  of  the  Revolution,  that  fell  to  secure 
the  blessings  of  this  day  to  us  :  may  their  children  so  maintain 
them  that  America  may  be  a  republic  of  Christians  on  the  last 
day  of  time." 

The  first  "jubilee  of  the  United  States,"  commemorating  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was 
celebrated  July  4,  1826,  by  a  procession  from  the  Court-house, 
services  at  the  brick  church, — First  Presbyterian, — a  dinner  at 
Mr.  Rollman's  tavern, —  formerl}'  Newcom's,—  and  a  picnic  at  the 
medical  spring  near  the  present  buildings  of  St.  Mary's  Institute 
on  Brown  Street.  The  Declaration  was  read  b}-  J  W.  Van  Cleve, 
and  an  oration  was  delivered  bj^  Peter  P.  Lowe.  In  1832  Edward 
W.  Davies  read  the  Declaration,  and  Robert  A.  Thruston  delivered 
an  oration.  Adam  Houk  was  marshal  of  the  procession,  and 
G.  C.  Davis,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  Jefferson  Patterson,  Peter  P. 
Lowe,  and  George  Engle  assistant  marshals.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  the  committee  of  arrangements :  Thomas  Clegg, 


1809- lSl2  109 

Charles  G.  Swain,  David  C.  Baker,  Charles  R.  Greene,  George 
Grove,  William  Eaker,  Peter  Baer,  Johnson  V.  Perrine,  William 
Roth,  John  Engel,  David  Davis,  Thomas  Morrison,  F.  F.  Carrell, 
Samuel  Foley,  and  Thomas  Brown.  In  1840  the  Declaration, 
"  prefaced  by  some  happy  remarks,"  was  read  by  John  G.  Lowe, 
and  Peter  Odlin  was  the  orator  of  the  day.  The  exercises  were 
held  at  the  Third  Street  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Dayton  Grays 
and  the  Washington  Artillery,  a  new  military  company,  paraded. 

In  April,  1809,  Dr.  Wood  opened,  in  Reid's  Inn,  the  first  drug- 
store established  here,  advertising  in  th&  Repertory  "medicines 
in  the  small"  for  sale.  The  first  political  convention  held  in 
Montgomery  County  convened  September  6  of  this  year  at  the 
Court-house,  David  Reid,  moderator  ;  Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  clerk. 
Six  hundred  votes  were  cast  at  the  election,  and  the  following 
ticket  was  elected :  State  Legislature,  Joseph  H.  Crane,  Mont- 
gomery County,  David  Purviance,  Preble  County  ;  sheriff,  Jerome 
Holt ;  coroner,  David  Squier  ;  commissioner,  John  Folkerth. 

Both  Indians  and  wild  animals  were  still  troublesome  in  1810. 
The  Montgomery  County  commissioners  paid  thirty  dollars  in 
reward  for  wolf-scalps  this  year,  and  twenty-two  dollars  in  181 1. 
There  were  two  thousand  four  hundred  Indians  in  Ohio  in  1810; 
five  hundred  and  fifty-nine  lived  at  Wapakoneta,  and  many  were 
now  encamped  at  Greenville.  Dayton  people  were  very  anxious, 
for  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  "the  Prophet,"  were  uniting  the 
Indians  in  the  West  and  South  in  a  league  against  the  whites, 
which  two  years  later  was  useful  to  the  British. 

The  town  was  slowly  improving.  The  population  in  1810  was 
three  hundred  and  eightj'-three.  This  year  the  Select  Council 
provided  for  new  sidewalks  along  Monument  Avenue,  then 
Water  Street,  from  Main  to  Mill  Street ;  on  First,  from  Ludlow 
to  St.  Clair,  except  the  south  side  of  First,  between  Jefferson 
and  St.  Clair,  and  on  Main,  from  Monument  Avenue  to  Third 
Street.  The  ordinance  directed  the  walks  to  be  "  laid  with  stones 
or  brick,  or  to  be  completely  graveled,  and  a  ditch  dug  along  the 
outer  edge."  People  were  forbidden,  "except  when  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessarj'-,"  to  drive  over  the  walks,  and  fines  collected 
for  infringing  this  law  were  to  be  appropriated  for  paving  street- 
crossings.  This  ordinance  caused  general  rejoicing,  both  among 
townspeople  and  visitors  from  the  country,  as  is  stated  in  the 
Ohio  Centinel,  a  weekly  newspaper  eleven  by  nine  inches  in 
size, —  a   four-column   folio, — which,   on   the  26th  of  July,  sue- 


no  EARLY    DAYTON 

ceeded  the  Repertory.  Isaac  G.  Burnett,  a  man  of  talent  and 
education,  was  the  editor  and  publisher  till  1813,  when  it  was 
discontinued  from  want  of  patronage,  most  of  the  men  being 
away  with  the  army,  and  the  women  too  busy  with  farm  and 
domestic  work  to  have  time  for  reading.  It  was  a  very  good 
paper,  and  the  editorials  are  still  interesting  reading  to  aii}^  one 
who  cares  for  our  early  history.  It  contained  the  official  and 
legal  announcements  for  the  whole  Northwest  Territory,  and 
had  a  large  circulation  as  far  as  Detroit  and  Chicago.  It  was 
"Republican"  in  principle,  but  was  far  from  being  exclusively 
political.  Its  motto  was,  "With  slight  shades  of  difference,  we 
have  the  same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political  principles." 

In  181 1  a  comet  was  visible,  and  there  were  severe  shocks  of 
earthquakes  throughout  the  Ohio  Valley  from  181 1  to  1812.  It 
was  at  this  date  that  New  INIadrid,  on  the  Mississippi,  was 
entirely  destroyed  by  earthquake.  The  superstitious  were  ter- 
rified by  these  "signs  and  portents"  in  sky  and  earth,  regarding 
them  as  ominous  of  public  or  private  misfortune.  The  Ohio  Cen- 
tinel  gives  graphic  accounts  of  the  vShocks  felt  here  on  December 
16  and  17,  181 1  ;  Januar}^  2-}^  and  27,  and  February  13,  1812. 
While  the  alarming  shocks  were  occurring  at  Dayton,  the  news- 
papers were  filled  with  frightful  descriptions  of  the  catastrophe 
at  New  Madrid  and  startling  earthquake  news  from  other  quar- 
ters, and  it  is  no  wonder  that  citizens  read  these  reports  with  awe 
and  dread,  feeling  that  it  was  not  improbable  that  a  similar  fate 
was  in  store  for  them.  This  year  of  disaster  made  a  deep  and 
never-forgotten  impression.  In  illustration  of  the  force  of  the 
earthquake  on  the  i6th  and  17th  of  December,  when  the  earth 
was  in  a  continual  tremor,  a  pioneer  grandmother  used  to  relate 
an  anecdote  of  a  flighty  little  woman,  who,  partly  for  the  purpose 
of  asserting  her  own  courage,  of  which,  in  fact,  .she  had  not  a 
particle,  and  partly  from  a  spirit  of  mischief  and  desire  to  shock 
her  awestruck  friends,  threw  herself  laughingly  on  the  ground, 
exclaiming:  "How  delightfully  the  world  rocks!  I  like  the 
motion."  The  poor,  frightened  lady  probably  thought  it  better 
philosophy  to  laugh  than  to  cry  ;  but  the  village  gossips  consid- 
ered such  conduct  very  unbecoming,  and  proof  positive  that  she 
was  an  atheist. 

The  revenue  of  Montgomery  County  for  1811-12  was  11,748.87  ; 
the  expenditures,  $968.60. 

In  1S12  William  Huffman  came  to  Dayton  from  New  Jersey. 


He  was  for  many  years  successfully  engaged  in  business  as  a 
merchant  and  speculator  in  real  estate.  His  stone  house,  the 
first  stone  residence  built  in  Dayton,  and  which,  according  to 
pioneer  habits,  was  both  dwelling  and  store,  stood  on  Jefferson 
and  Third  streets,  on  the  site  of  the  Beckel  House.  He  and  his 
wife  lived  to  be  very  aged.  Their  son,  William  P.  Huffman, 
deceased,  was  an  enterprising  citizen,  doing  much  to  build  up 
the  town.  There  were  four  daughters  :  Mary  Ann,  married 
Rev.  David  Winters  ;  Catharine,  Morris  Seely  ;  Eliza  J.,  Alexan- 
der Simms ;  Lydia  A.,  first,  William  H.  Merriam,  second,  John 
Harries.  Grandchildren  :  William  H.  Simms,  Mrs.  Ziba  Craw- 
ford, William,  Frank,  George,  Torrence,  and  Annie  Huffman, 
Mrs.  E.  J.  Barney,  Mrs.  J.  R.  Hedges,  Mrs.  C.  F.  Drury. 

In  Januar}-,  1S12,  the  Government  began  to  raise  troops  for  the 
war  with  Great  Britain.  While  the  Ohio  militia  were  encamped 
in  Dayton,  the  rendezvous  for  the  troops,  D.  C.  Cooper  employed 
them  to  dig  a  mill-race.  The  army  also  brought  work  and  busi- 
ness of  other  kinds  to  town.  Early  in  181 2  Joseph  Peirce  wrote 
to  his  brother-in-law,  James  Steele,  who  had  gone  east  to  buy 
goods:  "Business  quite  as  good  as  could  be  expected.  Gro- 
ceries, especially  coffee,  are  scarce  in  town.  I  think  eight  or  ten 
barrels  would  not  be  too  much  for  us,  if  they  can  be  purchased 
cheap.  A  good  assortment  of  muslins  to  sell  at  twent3'-five  cents 
would  be  desirable,  and  if  L.  Pascson  can  furnish  3-011  with  them  as 
cheap  for  four  months  as  for  cash,  I  would  pvirchase  pretty  largely. ' ' 
Soon  after,  he  wrote  to  another  relative  that  he  had  been  so  over- 
whelmed with  business  since  the  arrival  of  the  troops  that  he  had 
not  had  time  to  attend  to  his  private  correspondence. 

Horatio  G.  Phillips  was  one  of  the  several  merchants  who  laid 
the  foundations  of  large  fortunes  in  1812.  He  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  and  the  son  of  Captain  Jonathan  and  ]\Iary  Forman 
Phillips.  He  was  born  in  1783.  His  father  was  an  ofiBcer  in  the 
Revolutionary  army.  In  1803  H.  G.  Phillips  and  a  party  of 
friends  came  west  to  seek  a  new  home.  At  Cincinnati,  on  his 
return  from  a  visit  to  Natchez,  Mississippi,  where  he  had  had 
some  thought  of  settling,  he  met  D.  C.  Cooper,  a  New  Jersey  ac- 
quaintance, and  at  his  invitation  came  to  Daj-ton  in  the  winter 
of  1804-05.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1805  he  made  the  long, 
lonely  journey  on  horseback,  without  a  companion,  to  Phila- 
delphia. Having  purchased  goods  in  that  cit5^  he  went  to 
lyawrenceville.  New  Jersey,  where,  on  April  10,  1S06,  he  was  mar- 


112  EARLY    DAYTON 

ried  to  Miss  Eliza  Smith  Houston.  The  journey  to  Ohio  was 
made  on  horseback  to  Pittsburg,  thence  by  flatboat  to  Cincinnati, 
and  from  the  latter  place  to  Dayton  in  a  wagon.  Their  home  till 
1812  was  a  two-story  log  house  on  the  southwest  corner  of  First 
and  Jefferson  streets.  His  store  was  in  his  dwelling.  In  1809  he 
took  his  wife  and  their  infant  daughter  back  to  New  Jersey  on  a 
visit  to  the  old  home.  They  traveled  on  horseback,  a  lead-horse 
carrying  their  baggage.  J.  N.  C.  Schenck,  of  Franklin,  Charles 
Russell  Greene,  and  other  merchants,  going  east  for  goods,  trav- 
eled with  them,  all  the  men  of  the  part}-  being  armed  with  rifles, 
as  roaming  bands  of  Indians  made  the  journey  through  the 
woods  dangerous.  There  were  now  occasional  taverns,  where  a 
night  could  be  spent  in  primitive  style. 

In  18 1 2  Mr.  Phillips  built  a  two-story  brick  store  and  a  resi- 
dence on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets. 
Dayton  was  at  this  period  the  thoroughfare  of  all  regiments 
and  wagons  bound  for  the  seat  of  war,  and  the  army  brought  a 
great  deal  of  trade  to  Mr.  Phillips  and  other  business  men. 
Troops  were  always  stationed  here,  and  their  purchases  added 
largely  to  the  profits  of  our  merchants.  In  1812-13  Mr.  Houston, 
whom  Mr.  Phillips  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  purchase  goods,  bought 
more  largel}-  than  the  latter  intended,  and  fearing  the  stock  could 
not  all  be  disposed  of  here,  he  opened  a  store  at  Troy,  with  Mr. 
Houston  in  charge.  Fortunately,  the  war  created  a  demand  for 
pork,  whisk}-,  flour,  and  grain,  taken  in  exchange  for  merchan- 
dise, and  he  accumulated  a  large  amount  of  these  articles  at 
Troy  and  Dayton,  which  he  sold  at  good  prices  at  those  towns, 
or  at  the  forts  between  New  Lexington  and  Urbana.  In  1815  he 
opened  a  third  store  in  Greenville,  under  the  control  of  Easton 
Morris.  He  was  actively  engaged  in  business  for  many  years, 
and  retired  in  his  old  age.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
first  Dayton  bank,  and  was  interested  in  woolen  mills  at  Hole's 
Creek.  In  1830,  in  partnership  with  Alexander  Grimes  and 
Moses  Smith,  he  laid  out  the  town  of  Alexandersville.  In  1843 
or  1844  he,  with  others,  purchased  from  John  Kneisley  the 
water-power  afterwards  owned  by  the  Dayton  Hydraulic  Com- 
pany. His  partners  were  Daniel  Beckel,  J.  D.  Phillips,  and  S.  D. 
Edgar.  He  was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  building  of  turnpikes. 
The  Phillips  House,  built  in  1850,  was  named  in  his  honor.  In 
1831  Mrs.  Phillips  died.  "By  her  death  society  lost  one  of  its 
most  hospitable  and  gifted  members  and  the  church  a  liberal 


1809-1812  113 

giver  and  an  earnest,  unselfish  worker."  In  1836  Mr.  Phillips 
married  Mrs.  C.  P.  Irwin,  who  survived  him  many  years.  By 
his  first  marriage  he  had  three  children  who  lived  to  grow  up  : 
Blizabeth,  deceased,  who  married  John  G.  Worthington,  and  with 
her  son  and  daughter  lived  in  Washington  ;  Jonathan  Dickinson, 
born  December  31,  1812,  married  Luciana  Z.  Greene,  and  died  in 
1871,  his  wife  dying  in  1881 ;  Mariana  Louisa,  born  March  30,  1814, 
married,  first,  Robert  A.  Thruston,  and,  second,  John  G.  Lowe. 

J.  D.  Phillips  was  a  man  of  culture  and  taste,  and  very  gener- 
ous and  public-spirited.  When  he  gave  anything  to  his  native 
city, —  and  his  gifts  were  large  and  frequent, —  it  was,  if  possible, 
beautiful  as  well  as  appropriate  and  useful.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of,  and  a  very  liberal  contributor  to,  the  Public  Library, 
and  the  extent  of  his  gifts  in  that  and  other  directions  was 
known  only  to  a  few  intimate  friends.  He  was  a  warm  friend 
of  the  Public  Library,  and  (about  1849)  proposed  to  construct 
a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  his  new  building  especially  adapted 
to  the  use  of  the  library,  and  lease  it  to  the  association  on  very 
favorable  terms.  The  proposition  was  accepted,  and  a  room  forty 
by  sixty  feet,  with  lofty  ceiling,  supported  through  the  center 
by  Corinthian  columns,  was  prepared.  This  room  was  elegantly 
furnished  by  special  subscription,  at  a  cost  of  over  two  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  at  that  day  there  was  no  library- 
room  in  Ohio  outside  of  Cincinnati  that  could  compare  with  it 
in  beauty  and  convenience.  The  room  was  finished  in  white  and 
gold.  A  pair  of  handsome,  large,  revolving  globes,  in  tall  stands, 
and  other  ornamental  and  useful  articles  were,  in  addition  to  his 
contribution  to  the  general  fund,  given  by  Mr.  Phillips.  He  was 
very  hospitable,  and  loved,  for  his  own  enjoyment  as  well  as  for 
the  honor  of  the  town,  to  entertain  at  his  residence  distinguished 
guests  during  their  stay  in  Dayton.  His  elegant,  large  ball-room 
was  the  scene  of  many  a  brilliant  reception. 

Mrs.  John  G.  Lowe  has,  through  a  long  life,  been  noted  for 
generosity  and  active  interest  in  benevolent  and  religious  work, 
following  the  example  of  her  mother,  who  was  a  leader  in  every 
undertaking  for  the  benefit  of  the  community.  During  the  War 
of  181 2  Mrs.  Phillips  took  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  who  were 
brought  here  from  the  battlefield,  into  her  own  home,  and  nursed 
them  till  they  were  well,  and  was  one  of  the  band  of  ladies  who 
constantly  forv/arded  provisions  and  clothes  to  soldiers  at  the 
front.  Her  daughter,  Mrs.  Lowe,  was  one  of  the  founders  and 
8 


114  EARLY   DAYTON 

hardest  workers  in  the  Dajton  Sanitary  Association,  which  met 
daily  to  cut  out  and  make  garments  and  pack  boxes  of  food  and 
comforts  for  our  men  serving  in  the  army  during  the  Civil  War. 
Mrs.  Lowe  has  seven  children  living:  General  Gates  P.  Thruston, 
Mrs.  G.  W.  Houk,  Mrs.  Charles  Newbold,  Henry  C.  Lowe, 
Houston  Lowe,  Mrs.  Fowler  Stoddard,  I\Irs.  Thomas  Gaddis.  A 
son  and  daughter,  Dickinson  P.  and  Jeannette  J.  Thruston,  died 
in  early  manhood  and  womanhood. 

J.  D.  Phillips  had  one  son,  Horace, — who  married  Miss  Nannie 
Pease,  and  lives  in  Seattle, —  and  four  daughters,  Mrs.  A.  McD. 
McCook,  deceased,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Davies,  Mrs.  J.  Harrison  Hall,  and 
Miss  Sophia  Phillips. 

In  1812  Obadiah  B.  Conover  settled  in  Dayton.  Mr.  Conover, 
who  came  from  New  Jersey,  was  for  some  years  engaged  in 
blacksmithing  and  the  manufacture  of  wagons,  plows,  and  other 
farming  implements.  About  1820  he  opened  a  store  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Third  streets,  the  property  still 
belonging  to  his  descendants,  though  the  pioneer  building  has 
given  way  to  a  modern  business  house.  He  was  much  inter- 
ested and  very  useful  in  city  and  educational  affairs,  and  in 
church  and  in  Sunday-school  work.  He  married  a  daughter 
of  John  Miller,  who  came  to  Dayton  in  1799.  Some  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  grandfather  have  been  inherited  by  sons  and 
grandsons,  from  whom  schools,  libraries,  and  other  public 
matters  have  received  intelligent  and  constant  attention.  Mr, 
and  Mrs.  Conover  had  five  children,  all,  as  well  as  their 
descendants,  influential  citizens.  The  sons,  Harvey,  Wilbur, 
and  Obadiah,  were  men  of  superior  talent  and  liberal  education, 
who  made  themselves  felt,  the  first  two  in  Dayton,  and  the  third 
in  Madison,  Wisconsin.  The  sons,  and  one  of  the  daughters, 
Martha,  who  married  Collins  Wight,  a  prominent  business  man, 
are  deceased.  The  second  daughter,  Hannah,  married  Colonel 
Hiram  Strong,  who  was  a  gallant  ofl&cer,  and  died  in  1863  from 
wounds  received  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  Obadiah  B.  Con- 
over has  many  grandchildren  :  Charles,  Harvey,  Lawrence,  and 
Wilbur  Conover,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Phelps,  and  Mrs.  Emma  Brown, 
children  of  Harvey  Conover ;  Frank  Conover,  Hugh  D.  Conover, 
deceased,  and  Mrs.  INIary  C.  Grundy,  deceased,  children  of 
Wilbur  Conover  ;  Harry  C.  Wight,  deceased,  and  Mrs.  R.  A. 
Rogers,  children  of  Mrs.  Wight ;  Mrs.  Hannah  Frank  and 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Gebhart,  daughters  of  Mrs.  Strong. 


CHAPTER  VII 

1812-1816 

Dr.  John  Steele  — 1812  and  1813  Years  of  Excitement— Dread  of  Indians— 
Colonel  Johnston's  Control  of  the  Indians— Madison  Orders  Out  Ohio 
Militia— Battalion  Muster  at  Dayton  — Militia  Bivouac  Without  Tents  at 
Cooper  Park  —  Governor  Meigs  Arrives— Issues  a  Call  to  Citizens  for 
Blanliets— General  Gano  and  General  Cass  Arrive— Three  Regiments  of 
Infantry  Formed— Captain  William  Van  Cleve  — General  Hull  Arrives— 
Governor  Meigs  Surrenders  Command  to  General  Hull  — The  Governor 
and  General  Review  the  Troops— The  Three  Regiments  March  Across 
Mad  River  to  Camp  Meigs  — Leave  Camp  Meigs  for  Detroit— Munger's 
Brigade  Ordered  Here  to  Garrison  the  Town  — Hull's  Surrender— Conster- 
nation of  the  People  —  Handbills  Issued  at  Dayton  Calling  for  Volunteers 

—  Captain  Steele's  Company  — Kentucky  Troops  Arrive  Here— Harrison 
Calls  for  Volunteers  and  Horses  — Dayton  Ladies  Make  One  Thousand 
Eight  Hundred  Shirts  for  Soldiers — Expedition  Against  Indians  Near 
Muncietown  — Defeated  Soldiers  Bring  Wounded  to  Dayton  — Hospital  on 
Court-House  Corner — War — Jerome  Holt — War  Ended — Dayton  Compa- 
nies Welcomed   Home  — First  Dayton  Bank — Ohio   Centinel — Stone  Jail 

—  Mr.  Forrer's  Reminiscences  of  Dayton  in  1814  —  First  Methodist  Church  — 
William  Hamer — Aaron  Baker — Ohio  Republican — Ohio  Watchtnan — Medi- 
cal Societies  —  Dr.  Job  Haines  —  Female  Charitable  and  Bible  Society  —  First 
Market-House  —  Moral  Society  —  Associated  Bachelors  —  First  Theater. 

In  i8i2  Dr.  John  Steele  settled  in  Dayton.  He  was  born  near 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  was  graduated  from  the  famous  Lex- 
ington college,  Transylvania  University,  of  which  his  father, 
Robert  Steele,  was  one  of  the  founders.  From  college  he  went 
to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  in  which 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Benjamin  Rusk  was  professor,  to  attend 
medical  lectures.  Having  received  his  diploma  as  a  physician, 
he  decided  to  make  his  home  at  Dayton,  where  his  brother  James 
had  lived  for  several  years.  Soon  after  his  arrival  a  military 
hospital,  a  frame  building,  was  erected  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  Main  and  Third  streets, — the  Court-house  lot, —  for  the  use 
of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812,  Dayton,  as 
already  stated,  being  a  depot  of  supplies  and  a  rendezvous  for 
troops.  Dr.  Steele  was  placed  in  charge  as  physician  and  sur- 
geon.    During  his  residence  in  Dayton,  while  always  ready  to 

115 


Il6  EARLY   DAYTON 

serve  the  public,  he  confined  himself  principally  to  the  duties  of 
his  profession,  in  which  he  was  very  successful,  and  won  a  high 
reputation.  Even  to  the  present  day  man}-  families  remember 
his  knowledge  and  skill  as  doctor  and  surgeon  with  gratitude, 
and  speak  of  him  with  love  and  respect.  He  was  remarkable  for 
dry  humor  and  wit,  and  his  old  patients  recall  and  repeat  his 
witty  sayings  with  a  relish  heightened  by  the  memory  of  the 
relief  they  brought  amid  the  despondency  and  pain  of  the  sick- 
room. Like  his  brother  James,  and  like  their  grandfather  and 
father  before  them,  he  was  a  very  religious  man,  and  long  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  identified  from  its 
organization  with  the  Third  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
"only  members  of  that  church  can  know  the  respect  and  love  in 
which  he  was  held."  He  served  as  member  and  president  of  the 
City  Council,  was  member  and  president  of  the  Montgomery 
County  Medical  Society,  a  founder  of  and  large  contributor  to 
the  Library  Association,  an  original  stockholder  in  Woodland 
Cemetery  Association,  and  prominently  connected  with  all  the 
benevolent  and  religious  societies  of  his  day.  "With  his  name," 
writes  a  friend,  "is  associated  all  that  is  honorable,  noble,  and 
elevated  in  human  nature."  He  was  married  twice,  his  first 
wife  dying  young.  In  1823  he  married  Miss  Cornelia  King,  of 
Morristown,  New  Jersey,  who  survived  him  twenty-five  years. 
They  had  ten  children:  Augusta;  Caroline,  married  W.  F. 
Comly;  Dr.  Henry  K.,  beloved  in  Dayton  and  Denver  for  the 
professional  skill  and  delightful  social  qualities  characteristic 
of  his  father,  married  Mary  Frances  Dunlevy ;  Clara,  married 
R.  W.  Steele ;  James,  married  Sally  Curd ;  Charlotte,  married 
W.  H.  Harrison  ;  Samuel,  married  Annie  Mills  ;  Cornelia,  John, 
and  William.  Mrs.  R.  W.  Steele,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Harrison,  and 
Miss  Cornelia  Steele  alone  survive.  Grandchildren:  R.  W. 
Steele,  Miss  Harriet  D.  Steele,  Mrs.  William  Spalding,  children 
of  Dr.  Henry  K.  Steele ;  Charlotte  H.  Steele,  daughter  of  Mrs. 
R.  W.  Steele ;  Cornelia  H.  Steele,  daughter  of  James  Steele. 
Dr.  John  Steele  died  in  1854,  aged  sixty-three. 

The  years  1812  and  1813  were  full  of  excitement  and  dread  in 
Dayton.  Fear  of  the  Indians,  large  numbers  of  wdiom  were 
friendly  to  Great  Britain,  rendered  the  war  with  that  country 
especially  menacing  to  the  people  of  Ohio.  There  were  two 
thousand  Indians  —  Shawnees,  Ottawas,  Wyandots,  Senecas, 
Delawares,  and  Muncies—  in  the  State.     Blockhouses  were  built 


CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  1857-1893. 


i8i2-i8i6  117 

in  Montgomery  County  as  a  refuge  for  settlers  of  Preble,  Darke. 
and  Miami  counties,  who  were  considered  in  great  danger,  A 
hundred  of  them  fled  from  their  homes,  and  their  flight  increased 
the  alarm  of  people  in  less  exposed  regions.  Scouting  parties 
of  Miami  County  militia  were  constantly  on  duty  north  and 
west  of  Piqua.  These  companies  were  usually  ordered  to  kill 
every  Indian,  and  squaws  and  children  were  made  prisoners. 
News  was  continually  coming  during  the  spring  that  men  had 
been  killed  and  scalped  and  found  murdered  in  the  woods  ;  that 
white  inhabitants  were  flying  before  the  savages  in  every  direc- 
tion. On  the  loth  of  May  it  was  reported  here  that  an  Indian 
trader  by  the  name  of  Conner,  who  resided  at  Fort  Defiance, 
had  been  advised  by  friendly  Indians  to  move  in  from  the 
frontier,  and  also  that  the  Prophet  was  rebuilding  his  town,  and 
was  as  strong  as  ever  ;  that  he  was  seventy  miles  from  Greenville, 
and  would  reach  that  place  in  about  six  weeks.  On  the  14th  of 
May  six  Indians  and  a  squaw  were  captured  near  Troy,  and  on 
the  15th  five  or  six  whites,  while  planting  corn  near  Greenville, 
were  attacked  by  Indians  and  one  of  them  wounded.  Our  people 
knew  that  if  the  Prophet  took  any  of  the  neighboring  towns  it 
would  not  be  many  hours  before  he  arrived  at  Dayton.  Colonel 
Johnston,  by  order  of  Governor  Meigs,  was  holding  a  council 
of  Shawnee  chiefs  from  Wapakoneta  at  Piqua,  and  great  anxiety 
as  to  the  result  of  this  conference  was  felt.  The  Indians  decided 
for  peace,  but  though  Colonel  Johnston,  who,  from  long  employ- 
ment among  them  as  a  Government  agent,  understood  them  as 
few  white  men  did,  and  had  wonderful  influence  over  them, 
believed  their  professions  of  friendship,  the  citizens  of  Ohio 
generally  had  no  faith  in  their  promises. 

All  through  the  war  Colonel  Johnston  acted  as  mediator  and 
peacemaker  between  the  tribes  and  the  whites,  especially  endeav- 
oring to  keep  faith  with  the  friendly  Shawnees,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  defend  Indians  and  citizens  from  each  other.  He  pursued 
this  noble  course  successfully,  in  spite  of  much  opposition  from 
his  own  people,  by  means  of  appeals  through  the  newspapers,  and 
various  proclamations  and  stringent  regulations.  Soon  after  one 
of  Colonel  Johnston's  appeals  for  a  just  and  humane  treatment  of 
the  Indians  was  printed,  an  article  filled  with  abuse  of  him  and 
the  Shawnees  was  published  in  the  Ohio  Ce7iti?iel.  It  was  claimed 
that  while  he  was  assuring  the  people  that  the  Indians  would  not 
be  troublesome  in  any  way,  he  directed  them  to  bring  him  the 


Il8  EARLY  DAYTON 

ears  of  all  the  swine  they  had  killed.  The  settlers  insisted  that 
the  order  would  not  have  been  issued  if  there  had  been  no  ground 
for  complaints  against  the  savages.  Colonel  Johnston's  only- 
object  in  publishing  this  order  was  to  prove  the  innocence  of  his 
wards,  if  possible,  or,  if  he  failed  in  this,  to  provide  some  means 
of  deciding  what  would  be  a  full  compensation  for  hogs  that  had 
been  lost  by  their  owners.  The  frontiersman  could  not,  as  a  rule, 
believe  an  Indian  less  cruel  and  treacherous  or  more  worthy  of 
consideration  than  the  wild  beasts  which  he  shot  whenever  he 
had  an  opportunity.  Even  the  more  intelligent  and  humane 
inhabitants  of  Ohio  largely  shared  this  distrust  and  contempt  of 
Indians  ;  and  Indians  professedly  friendl}- did  many  things  which 
confirmed  the  evil  opinion  the  whites  had  of  them. 

President  Madison  ordered  out  one  thousand  two  hundred  Ohio 
militia  in  April,  1812,  for  one  year's  service,  and  Governor  Meigs 
directed  the  major-generals  of  the  Western  and  Middle  divisions 
to  report  with  their  commands  at  Dayton  on  the  29th  of  the  month. 
Major  David  Reid  ordered  the  ofiScers  of  the  First  Battalion,  of 
which  he  was  in  command,  to  assemble  for  a  battalion  muster 
on  the  second  Tuesday  in  April,  at  the  usual  parade-ground  in 
Dayton,  armed  and  equipped  as  the  law  required.  At  this  muster 
orders  were  read,  and  also  the  bill  for  enrolling  volunteers,  passed 
by  Congress  on  the  20th  of  February.  On  such  occasions  crowds 
of  people  gathered  to  enjoy  the  parade,  and  it  was  supposed  that 
the  patriotism  and  enthusiasm  of  spectators  would  be  roused  on 
the  14th  of  April,  and  that  man}^  recruits  would  be  obtained.  "It 
was  expected,"  the  editor  of  the  Ohio  Cetitinel  writes,  "that  a 
sufficient  number  would  volunteer  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  a 
draft,  but  only  twenty  stepped  forward  at  the  call  of  their  coun- 
try." The  editor  expresses  his  disappointment  at  this  result  in 
strong  terms.  Citizens  had  hardly  had  time  as  j'et  to  realize  that 
hostilities  had  really  begun.  The  war  excitement  soon  rose  to 
fever-heat,  and  the  Centmel  never  again  reproved  Daytonians  for 
lack  of  patriotism.  A  company  of  Rangers  was  raised  by  Gen- 
eral Munger  at  this  date  in  this  neighborhood,  to  be  marched  to 
Detroit.  Governor  Meigs  came  to  Dayton  on  the  20th  of  April 
to  inspect  them.  The  company  was  partly  composed  of  drafted 
men. 

The  uniform  of  the  soldiers  of  1812  was  a  blue  coat,  with 
scarlet  collar  and  cuffs,  and  a  cocked  hat,  with  a  cockade  and 
white  feather.     The  Governor  appointed  the  30th  of  April  as  a 


i8i2-i8i6  119 

day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  appropriate  religious  services 
were  held  at  the  Dayton  Court-house. 

When,  on  May  i,  the  first  companies  of  militia  reached  Day- 
ton, though  the  Governor's  order  making  this  the  rendezvous  of 
troops  had  been  published  a  month  before,  no  arrangements  had 
been  made  for  their  comfort.  Till  the  middle  of  May  they  had 
neither  tents  nor  camp  equipage,  and  ver}'  few  blankets.  A 
number  bivouacked  without  shelter  on  the  commons  now  Cooper 
Park.  Twelve  companies,  containing  eight  hundred  men,  were 
here  by  May  7,  and  eight  or  ten  more  arrived  in  a  few  days.  As 
the  town  could  not  afford  room  for  all  these  men,  some  camped  a 
little  south  of  Dayton. 

Governor  Meigs  arrived  on  the  6th  of  May  to  give  orders  and 
inspect  troops.  The  event  was  announced  by  the  citizens  by  a 
salute  of  eighteen  guns.  He  reviewed  the  militia  in  the  after- 
noon, and  the  next  day  sent  out  an  appeal  from  headquarters, 
McCullum's  Tavern,  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets, 
to  the  citizens  of  Ohio,  to  men,  mothers,  sisters,  and  wives,  for 
blankets  for  the  soldiers.  Each  family  was  requested  to  "furnish 
one  or  more  blankets,"  the  appeal  read,  "and  the  requisite  num- 
ber will  be  completed.  It  is  not  requested  as  a  boon  ;  the  moment 
your  blankets  are  delivered,  you  shall  receive  their  full  value  in 
m.oney  ;  they  are  not  to  be  had  at  the  stores.  The  season  of  the 
year  is  approaching  when  each  family  may,  without  inconveni- 
ence, part  with  one." 

Soon  after  the  Governor's  arrival,  he  ordered  General  Munger 
and  a  small  number  of  Dayton  troops  to  make  ' '  a  tour  to  Green- 
ville, to  inquire  into  the  situation  of  the  frontier  settlements." 
On  May  14  there  were  about  one  thousand  four  hundred  troops 
here,  the  majority  of  whom  were  volunteers.  Six  or  seven 
hundred  of  them  were  under  the  command  of  General  Gano  and 
General  Cass.  Six  other  companies  arrived  in  a  few  days.  Three 
regiments  of  infantry, — the  First,  Second,  and  Third, — num- 
bering one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  were  formed  on  the 
2ist.  These  were  the  first  regiments  organized  by  the  State  of 
Ohio.  After  the  companies  were  assigned  to  these  regiments,  and 
ofl&cers  were  elected,  better  militar}-  discipline  was  maintained 
than  had  been  hitherto  possible.  The  First  Regiment  encamped 
south  of  town,  and  the  other  two  at  Cooper  Park. 

Ohio's  quota  of  troops  having  now  been  raised.  Captain  Wil- 
liam Van  Cleve's  newly  formed  company  of  riflemen  of  this 


I20  EARLY  DAYTON 

county  was  employed  in  guarding  supply-trains  on  the  road  to 
St.  Mary's.  Captain  William  Van  Cleve,  brother  of  Benjamin, 
was  born  near  Monmouth,  New  Jersey,  in  1777.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  settlers  of  Dayton.  Instead  of  coming  on  the  keel- 
boat  or  pirogue  with  his  family,  he  accompanied  the  Newcom 
party  through  the  woods  for  the  purpose  of  driving  the  cow  of 
his  stepfather,  Mr.  Thompson.  He  was  married  twice,  and  by 
his  first  wife,  Effie  Westfall,  had  several  children.  From  the 
close  of  the  war  till  his  death  in  1828^  he  kept  a  tavern  at  the 
junction  of  Warren  and  Jefferson  streets. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  General  Hull  arrived  at  McCullum's 
Tavern,  which  he  made  his  headquarters.  The  usuall}'  quiet 
village  of  Dayton  was  now  all  animation  and  noise,  as  ofiicers, 
quartermasters,  and  commissaries  were  preparing  for  the  depart- 
ure of  the  regiments  for  Detroit.  The  broad  and  generally 
deserted  streets,  ungraveled,  often  knee-deep  in  mud,  were  alive 
with  bustling  citizens  and  country  people,  gazing  with  curiosity 
at  the  brilliant  uniforms  and  equipments  of  the  passing  sol- 
diers, and  the  stores  were  full  of  customers ;  companies  were 
drilling ;  mounted  ofl&cers  and  couriers  galloping  in  different 
directions ;  lines  of  wagons  and  packhorses,  laden  with  provi- 
sions and  ammunition  and  camp  equipage,  coming  in  from 
Cincinnati  or  the  neighboring  places,  and  Montgomery  County 
farmers  and  business  men,  even  when  they  were  enrolled  among 
the  volunteers,  were  many  of  them  reaping  a  golden  harvest. 
On  the  morning  of  the  25th  General  Meigs  and  General  Hull,  to 
whom  the  Governor  had  surrendered  the  command,  reviewed 
and  made  addresses  to  the  soldiers  camped  south  of  town.  After 
dinner  at  noon  at  McCullum's,  they  reviewed  and  addressed  the 
regiments  at  Cooper  Park.  Early  the  next  morning  the  three 
regiments,  with  Hull  and  his  staff  at  their  head,  crossing  Mad 
River  at  a  ford  opposite  the  head  of  Webster  Street,  marched  to 
a  new  camp, —  which  they  called  for  Governor  Meigs, — situated 
on  a  prairie  three  miles  from  town,  on  the  west  bank  of  Mad 
River.  They  raised  the  American  flag,  and,  forming  a  hollow 
square  around  it,  greeted  it  with  cheers,  and  expressed  their 
determination  not  to  surrender  it  except  with  their  lives. 

On  the  ist  of  June  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  regiments  of 
Ohio  militia  and  a  body  of  cavalry,  followed  by  a  wagon-train 
and  a  brigade  of  pack-mules,  left  Dayton  for  Detroit.  The 
Governor  and  his  staff  and  strangers  from  Cincinnati  and  Ken- 


i8i2-i8i6  121 

tucky,  besides  a  crowd  of  people  from  the  town  and  neighboring 
country,  were  collected  to  see  the  troops  begin  their  inarch. 
They  marched  out  the  old  Troy  pike.  A  large  number  of  men 
followed  them  for  a  day  or  two,  some  of  them  sleeping  in  camp 
one  night.  General  Hunger's  command  of  militia  was  ordered 
here  to  garrison  the  town,  protect  stores  and  public  property, 
and  keep  open  a  line  of  communication  with  the  army  at  the 
front.  This  was  service  of  importance,  as  quartermaster's  ord- 
nance and  commissary's  supplies  were  forwarded  by  way  of 
Dayton. 

The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Hull's  army  reached  Dayton  at 
noon  on  Saturday,  August  22,  and  this  terrible  disaster  occa- 
sioned much  alarm.  A  handbill  was  at  once  sent  out  into  the 
country  from  the  Centinel  office,  containing  the  startling  infor- 
mation just  received,  and  urging  every  able-bodied  man  who 
could  furnish  a  firelock  to  come  to  Dayton  Sunday  prepared  to 
march  immediately  for  the  defense  of  the  frontier,  guard  the 
public  stores  at  Piqua,  and  watch  the  Indians  in  that  region.  So 
many  poured  into  town,  and  so  immediate  was  the  response  to 
the  appeal,  that  the  Centinel  headed  an  editorial  relating  the 
occurrences  of  the  next  day  or  two,  "Prompt  Patriotism,"  and 
challenged  ' '  the  annals  of  our  country  to  produce  an  example 
of  greater  promptitude  or  patriotism."  Though  the  news  came 
Saturday  noon,  a  company  of  seventy  men,  commanded  by 
Captain  James  Steele,  was  by  seven  o'clock  Sunday  morning 
raised,  organized,  and  completely  equipped,  and  marched  a  little 
later  in  the  morning  to  Piqua.  All  the  men  and  women  in 
town  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of  getting  the  soldiers 
ready,  and  few  went  to  bed  Saturday  night.  Five  companies  of 
drafted  men  from  Montgomery  and  Warren  counties  arrived  on 
Sunday.  Monday  and  Tuesday  troops  were  constantly  departing 
and  arriving.  Two  companies  were  left  here  at  Camp  Meigs. 
The  Governor  of  Ohio,  as  soon  as  the  bad  news  came,  ordered 
forty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  public  stores  to  be  removed 
from  Piqua  to  Daj^ton,  and  General  Munger  and  his  brigade  soon 
accomplished  this  work.  Captain  Steele's  company,  no  longer 
needed  at  Piqua,  was  ordered  to  St.  Mary's, — the  most  advanced 
frontier  post, — and  the  Captain  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
post.  Joseph  H.  Crane  was  made  sergeant-major.  The  Dayton 
company  built  blockhouses  for  the  defense  of  St.  Mary's.  The 
pay-roll  of  Captain   Steele's   company  was  preserved,   and   its 


122  EARLY   DAYTON 

publication  in  a  Dayton  paper  many  years  later  enabled  widows 
and  children  of  the  men  whose  names  appear  on  it  to  obtain  land- 
warrants  from  the  Government.  This  pay-roll  contained  but 
fifty-two  names,  though  seventy  were  enrolled  on  August  23,  so 
that  part  of  the  men  were  probably  engaged  at  this  time  in 
scouting  or  other  duty.  Perhaps  some  did  not  go  farther  than 
Piqua. 

General  Harrison  spent  the  ist  of  September,  1812,  in  Dayton, 
and  a  salute  of  eighteen  guns  was  fired  in  his  honor.  While  the 
citizens  were  receiving  General  Harrison  in  front  of  the  Court- 
house, Brigadier-General  Payne  arrived  with  three  Kentucky 
regiments,  comprising  one  thousand  eight  hundred  men,  and, 
marching  past  the  Court-house,  halted  at  Second  Street.  The 
soldiers  were  also  honored  with  a  salute.  Early  in  September 
General  Harrison  sent  out  a  call  for  volunteers,  to  be  com- 
manded by  himself,  ordering  them  to  ' '  rendezvous  at  the  town 
of  Dayton  on  the  Big  Miami."  He  also  issued  a  call  for  eight 
hundred  horses  provided  with  saddles  and  bridles,  agreeing  to 
pay  fifty  cents  a  day  for  them.  The  horses  were  to  be  received 
at  Reid's  Inn  in  Dayton.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  a  stirring 
place  Dayton  had  now  become.  Some  of  the  regiments  which 
stopped  over  night  camped,  we  are  told,  "in  the  mud  on  Main 
Street." 

The  troops  at  the  front  were  in  great  need  of  blankets  and 
warm  clothes.  The  following  appeal  was  sent  to  the  ladies  of 
Dayton  from  headquarters,  St.  Mary's,  September  20,  181 2: 

"General  Harrison  presents  his  compliments  to  the  ladies  of 
Dayton  and  its  vicinity,  and  solicits  their  assistance  in  making 
shirts  for  their  brave  defenders  who  compose  his  army,  many 
of  whom  are  almost  destitute  of  that  article  — so  necessary  to 
their  health  and  comfort.  The  material  will  be  furnished  by  the 
quartermaster,  and  the  General  confidently  expects  that  this 
opportunity  for  the  display  of  female  patriotism  and  industry 
will  be  largely  embraced  by  his  fair  country-women. 

"P.  S. — Captain  James  Steele  will  deliver  the  articles  for  mak- 
ing the  shirts  on  application." 

Captain  Steele's  company,  which  had  volunteered  for  short 
service,  was  returning  home  when  this  letter  was  written.  The 
material  for  the  shirts  was  obtained  from  the  Indian  Department, 
and  had  been  prepared  for  annuities  to  tribes  supposed  to  be 
friendly,  but  now  in  arms  against  the  Government,  and  with- 
held in  consequence  of  their  present  hostile  attitude.     "With 


i8i2-i8i6  123 

a  zeal  and  promptitude  honorable  to  them  and  the  State," 
and,  of  course,  without  compensation,  the  ladies  of  Dayton 
immediately  went  to  work,  and  by  October  14  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  shirts  were  ready  to  send  to  the  army — a  good 
deal  of  sewing  to  accomplish  without  the  aid  of  a  machine  in 
less  than  four  weeks  by  the  women  of  a  village  of  less  than  one 
hundred  houses. 

On  the  nth  of  December  seven  hundred  men  of  the  Nineteenth 
United  States  Infantry,  who  had  remained  in  Dayton  for  ten 
days  to  procure  horses,  left  under  command  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  John  B.  Campbell  on  an  expedition  against  the  Miami 
villages  near  INIuncietown.  The  Indians  were  routed,  but  eight 
of  our  men  were  killed  and  forty-eight  wounded,  and  nearly 
half  the  horses  were  killed  or  lost.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
day  of  the  battle  the  army  began  its  return  march,  carrying  forty 
of  the  wounded,  who  were  unable  to  ride,  on  stretchers.  The 
men  suffered  all  sorts  of  hardships,  and  nearly  perished  from 
cold,  fatigue,  and  lack  of  food.  On  the  22d  and  24th  of  Decem- 
ber Major  Adams,  stationed  at  Greenville,  and  Colonel  Jerome 
Holt,  engaged  in  building  blockhouses  and  protecting  the 
frontier,  came  to  their  assistance  and  enabled  them  to  continue 
their  march.  They  reached  Dayton  on  Sunda}^  the  27th,  after 
traveling  ten  days.  The  Centinel  says  that  "their  solemn  pro- 
cession into  town,  with  the  wounded  extended  on  litters,  excited 
emotions  which  the  philanthropic  bosom  may  easily  conceive, 
but  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  describe  them." 

The  small  military  hospital  on  the  Court-house  corner,  in 
charge  of  Dr.  John  Steele  and  assistant  physicians,  has  already 
been  mentioned.  Some  of  Colonel  Campbell's  men  were  no 
doubt  received  at  the  hospital,  but  the  soldiers  were  also  taken 
into  private  houses,  scarcely  a  family  receiving  less  than  four 
or  five.  The  usual  Sunday  services  were  omitted,  and  the  ladies 
of  Dayton  spent  the  day  nursing  the  wounded  and  ministering 
to  the  needs  of  their  worn-out  comrades.  Colonel  Campbell's 
force  marched  to  Franklinton  in  a  few  days,  but  those  unable  to 
accompany  them  were  left  here,  and  tenderly  cared  for  b}'  citi- 
zens. The  ladies  of  Dayton,  though  not  formally  organized  into 
a  soldiers'  relief  society,  were  continually  engaged  in  making  or 
collecting  clothes  and  supplies  for  Montgomery  County  volun- 
teers in  the  field  or  in  the  hospitals.  Both  private  and  public 
supplies,  though  mud  rendered  the  roads  almost  impassable,  were 


124  EARLY   DAYTON 

constantly  forwarded  by  army  agents  from  Dayton.  Supplies 
purchased  here  were  delivered  to  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  for- 
age-master at  the  Government  storehouse,  on  the  west  side  of 
Main  Street,  between  IMonument  Avenue  and  First  Street. 

Jerome  Holt,  mentioned  above,  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Benja- 
min Van  Cleve,  and  came  to  Dayton  in  the  summer  of  1796.  They 
had  been  partners  in  Cincinnati.  After  John  Van  Cleve  had  been 
killed  by  the  Indians,  he  assisted  Benjamin  in  his  first  efforts  to 
provide  for  the  family.  His  wife,  Anne  Van  Cleve,  was  born 
in  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1775,  and  died  in  1858  in 
Van  Buren  Township,  where  the  Holts  settled  in  1797.  He 
was  appointed  constable  of  Dayton  Township  in  1800,  and 
elected  sheriff  of  Montgomery  County  in  1809.  From  1810  to 
1812  he  was  colonel  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  militia.  Three 
great-granddaughters,  named  Gusten,  live  in  Dayton,  and  a 
descendant  — Mrs.  Lindsay  —  lives  on  the  old  Holt  farm  fpur 
miles  north  of  Dayton.  Jerome  Holt  died  in  Wayne  Township 
in  1841,  and  was  buried  in  Dayton  with  military  and  Masonic 
honors. 

A  new  company  was  formed  here  in  January,  1813,  by  Captain 
A.  Edwards,  and  marched  immediately.  Captain  Edwards,  who 
was  a  Da3'ton  physician,  had  served  as  a  surgeon  in  the  army 
in  1812. 

In  the  fall  of  1813  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  Harrison's 
defeat  of  Proctor,  and  the  repulse  of  the  British  at  the  battle  of 
the  Thames,  brought  the  war  in  the  West  to  a  close.  Returning 
Ohio  and  Kentucky  soldiers  were  now  constantly  on  the  march 
from  the  north  through  Dayton,  and  the  town  was  full  of  people 
from  different  parts  of  the  country,  who  had  come  to  meet 
relatives  serving  in  the  various  companies."  Sometimes  the 
volunteers,  camped  in  the  mire  on  Main  Street,  became  a  little 
noisy  and  troublesome.  The  Dayton  companies  received  an 
enthusiastic  welcome  home.  Streets  and  houses  were  decorated, 
and  a  flag  was  kept  flying  from  the  pole  erected  on  INIain  Street. 
A  cannon  was  also  placed  there,  which  was  fired  whenever  a 
company  or  regiment  arrived.  The  people,  at  the  signal,  gath- 
ered to  welcome  the  soldiers,  whom  they  were  expecting,  and 
for  whom  a  dinner,  on  tables  set  out-of-doors,  was  prepared,  and 
the  rest  of  the  day  was  given  up  to  feasting,  speech-making, 
and  general  rejoicing.  Our  Montgomery  County  companies  had 
all  returned  by  the  ist  of  December ;  but  as  they  had  been  in 


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i8i2-i8i6  125 

constant  and  active  duty  since  their  departure  for  the  front,  a 
number  of  brave  men  had  fallen  on  the  battlefield,  and  others 
came  home  in  enfeebled  health,  or  suffering  from  wounds  which 
shortened  their  lives,  so  that  many  in  this  neighborhood  had  as 
much  cause  for  sorrow  as  for  joy  when  the  troops  gaily  marched 
into  town. 

It  is  impossible  for  the  present  generation  to  realize  the  horrors 
and  sufferings  occasioned  by  the  War  of  1812.  King  says,  in  his 
historj'  of  Ohio,  that  an  eye-witness  described  the  country  as 
"depopulated  of  men,  and  the  farmer  women,  weak  and  sickly 
as  they  often  were,  and  surrounded  by  their  helpless  little  chil- 
dren, were  obliged,  for  want  of  bread,  to  till  their  fields,  until 
frequently  they  fell  exhausted  and  dying  under  the  toil  to  which 
they  were  unequal."  There  is  slight  record  of  the  trials  and 
labors  of  the  people  of  Dayton  during  this  period,  but  they  no 
doubt  had  their  full  share. 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  not  signed  till  1815.  When  the  news 
reached  Dayton  in  February,  the  following  article,  headed 
"Peace,"  appeared  in  the  Republican:  "With  hearts  full  of 
gratitude  to  the  great  Arbiter  of  nations,  we  announce  this  joy- 
ous intelligence  to  our  readers.  Every  heart  that  feels  but  a 
single  patriotic  emotion  will  hail  the  return  of  peace,  on  terms 
which  are  certainly  not  dishonorable,  as  one  of  the  most  auspi- 
cious events  we  were  ever  called  upon  to  celebrate.  The  citizens 
of  Dayton  have  agreed  to  illuminate  this  evening.  The  people 
from  the  country  are  invited  to  come  in  and  partake  of  the  gen- 
eral joy."  March  31  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Ohio  as 
a  day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  declaration  of  peace. 

The  mechanics  of  Dayton  met  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
of  Saturday,  March  15,  1813,  at  McCullum's  Tavern,  to  form  a 
mechanics'  society.  This  was  the  first  workingmen's  association 
organized  in  Da3'ton.  Workingmen  and  mechanics,  as  well  as 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  were  prospering  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  able  to  buy  themselves  homes.  There  was  much  suc- 
cessful speculating  in  real  estate,  and  business  was  on  the  top 
wave  for  the  next  six  or  seven  years. 

The  5th  of  May  of  this  year  was  set  apart  by  the  Governor  of 
Ohio  for  a  day  of  thanksgiving.  In  Ohio  in  early  times  thanks- 
giving was  not  always  observed,  and  when  the  Governor  issued 
a  proclamation  for  the  festival  he  was  as  likely  to  select  Christ- 
mas or  Ma5'-day  as  the  last  Thursday  in  November.     The  first 


126  EARLY  DAYTON 

proclamation  of  this  kind  in  Ohio  was  issued  by  Governor  St. 
Clair,  December  25,  1788. 

The  first  Da3^ton  bank,  called  the  "Dayton  Manufacturing 
Company,"  was  chartered  in  1813.  The  following  gentlemen 
constituted  the  first  board  of  directors :  H.  G.  Phillips,  Joseph 
Peirce,  John  Compton,  David  Reid,  William  Eaker,  Charles  R. 
Greene,  Isaac  G.  Burnet,  Joseph  H.  Crane,  D.  C.  Lindsay,  John 
Ewing,  Maddox  Fisher,  David  Griffin,  John  H.  Williams,  Benja- 
min Van  Cleve,  George  Grove,  Fielding  Gosney,  and  J.  N.  C. 
Schenck.  The  amount  of  stock  issued  was  |6i  ,055.  The  first  loan 
was  one  of  |i  1,120  to  the  United  States  Government  to  assist  in 
carrying  on  the  war.  Banking  hours  were  from  10  a.m.  to  i  p.m. 
The  president  received  a  salarj-  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
per  annum,  and  the  cashier  four  hundred  dollars.  H.  G.  Phillips 
was  elected  president  in  1814,  but  resigned  in  a  few  weeks,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Peirce.  On  the  latter's  death,  in  1821, 
Benjamin  Van  Cleve  was  elected  ;  but  he  died  in  two  months,  and 
was  succeeded  by  George  Newcom.  In  the  following  year  James 
Steele,  who  served  till  his  death  in  1841,  became  president,  and 
George  S.  Houston  cashier.  After  183 1  the  bank  was  known  as 
the  "Dayton  Bank."     The  bank  closed  up  its  affairs  in  1843. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1813,  the  last  number  of  the  Ohio  Centinel 
appeared,  and  for  a  year  and  five  months  no  newspaper  was  pub- 
lished in  Dayton.  As  a  consequence  there  is  little  material 
during  this  period  for  the  history  of  the  town. 

The  contract  for  building  a  new  jail  was  sold  to  James 
Thompson,  July  27,  181 1,  at  public  auction  at  the  Court- 
house, for  ^2,147.91.  The  jail  was  eighteen  by  thirty-two 
feet,  and  built  of  rubble-stone.  A  rented  house  was  used  for 
a  jail  till  the  new  building  was  finished.  It  was  not  com- 
pleted till  December,  1813.  The  jail  vStood  on  Third  Street 
in  the  rear  of  the  Court-house,  close  to  the  pavement.  It  was 
two  stories  high,  with  gable  shingle  roof,  running  parallel  with 
the  street ;  a  hall  ran  through  the  center  of  the  house  from 
the  Third  Street  entrance.  The  prison  occupied  the  east  half 
of  the  building  and  the  sheriff's  residence  the  west  half.  There 
were  three  cells  in  each  story.  Those  in  the  second  story  were 
more  comfortable  than  the  others,  and  were  used  for  women  and 
for  persons  imprisoned  for  minor  offenses.  One  of  the  cells  was 
for  debtors,  imprisonment  for  debt  being  still  legal  at  that  period. 
Often  men  imprisoned  for  debt  were  released  by  the  court  on 


i8i2-i8i6  127 

"prison  bounds  "  or  "limits,"  upon  their  giving  bond  for  double 
the  amount  of  the  debt.  They  were  then  permitted  to  live  at 
home,  support  their  families,  and  endeavor  to  pay  their  indebted- 
ness, but  were  not  allowed  to  go  beyond  the  corporation  limits. 
This  jail  was  not  considered  a  safe  place  of  confinement  for 
criminals,  as  persons  on  the  sidewalk  could  look  through  the 
barred  windows,  which  were  about  two  feet  square,  into  the  lower 
front  cell,  and  pass  small  articles  between  the  bars.  Though  the 
cells  were  double-lined  with  heavy  oak  plank,  driven  full  of 
nails,  one  night  four  prisoners  escaped  by  cutting  a  hole  in  the 
floor,  and  tunneling  under  the  wall  and  up  through  the  sidewalk. 
About  1834  or  1835  ^  one-story  building  of  heavy  cut  stone  was 
erected  in  the  rear  of  the  jail.  It  contained  four  cells  with  stone 
floors  and  arched  brick  ceilings.  This  was  the  county  jail  until 
the  fall  of  1845,  when  a  stone  jail  was  built  at  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Sixth  streets,  the  present  workhouse. 

Mr.  Samuel  Forrer,  who  visited  Da3ton  in  the  fall  of  1814, 
gives  us,  in  his  reminiscences,  a  glimpse  of  the  town  at  that 
date  •  "  At  that  early  day  there  was  a  house  and  a  well  in  an  oak 
clearing  on  Main  Street,  near  Fifth,  surrounded  by  a  hazel 
thicket.  It  was  a  noted  halting-place  for  strangers  traveling 
northward  and  eastward,  in  order  to  procure  a  drink  of  water  and 
inquire  the  distance  to  Dayton."  He  describes  the  embryo  city 
as  still  confined  principally  "to  the  bank  of  the  Miami  River 
between  Ludlow  and  Mill  streets,  and  the  business — store-keep- 
ing, blacksmithing,  milling,  distilling,  etc. —  was  concentrated 
about  the  head  of  Main  Street." 

In  i8i4the  first  Methodist  church  was  completed  and  occupied. 
It  was  a  one-story  frame  building  thirty  by  forty  feet  in  size,  and 
stood  on  a  lot  contributed  by  D.  C.  Cooper,  on  the  south  side  of 
Third  Street  and  a  little  east  of  Main  Street.  Previous  to  the 
building  of  this  ' '  meeting-house ' '  Methodist  services  had  been  held 
in  the  open  air,  the  Presbyterian  log  cabin,  or  the  Court-house. 
As  early  as  1797  a  Methodist  class  had  been  formed  by  William 
Hamer,  a  local  preacher,  which  met  in  his  house  three  miles  vip 
Mad  River.  Rev.  John  Kobler,  sent  out  by  Bishop  Asbury  to 
organize  the  Miami  Circuit,  preached  in  Dayton,  as  already 
mentioned,  in  August,  1798,  and  January,  1799.  In  April  of  the 
latter  year  class-meetings  began  to  be  held  in  the  village  at 
the  house  of  Aaron  Baker.  Bishop  Asbury  preached  here  on 
the  22d  of  September,  181 1,  in  the  Court-house,  to  a  thousand 


128  EARLY  DAYTON 

persons.  Soon  after,  Rev.  John  Collins,  who  had  preached  here 
a  few  Sundays,  persuaded  the  people  to  erect  a  church,  and  in  a 
short  time  $457.55  had  been  subscribed  for  a  building  fund.  The 
frame  church  was  succeeded  by  two  brick  buildings  on  its  site 
— the  first,  built  in  1828,  forty  by  fifty  feet  in  size  and  twenty- 
four  feet  in  height,  and  the  second,  built  in  1849,  fifty-five  by 
eighty-two  feet  in  size,  and  with  a  tower  in  front.  In  1870  the 
congregation  removed  to  the  stone  structure — Grace  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  —  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Ludlow  streets. 

William  Hamer,  the  first  Methodist  local  preacher  to  hold  serv- 
ices in  this  neighborhood,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  1796.  He 
settled  on  a  farm  three  miles  up  Mad  River,  and  his  place  was 
known  as  "  Hamer's  Hill."  His  wife  died  in  1825.  He  died  in 
1827,  aged  seventy-five.  Their  son  Da3'ton,  born  at  Hamer's 
Hill  in  1796,  was  the  first  child  born  after  the  original  settlers 
arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Mad  River. 

The  name  of  Aaron  Baker,  the  first  Methodist  class-leader  in 
Dayton,  often  occurs  in  the  early  history  of  the  town.  He  was 
born  in  Essex  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1773,  visited  Dayton  in 
1804,  1805,  and  1806,  and  settled  here  with  his  family  in  1807. 
He  built  McCullum's  Tavern  and  the  old  brick  Court-house. 

In  December,  18 14,  Charles  Zull  began  to  work  a  ferry  across 
the  Miami  at  the  head  of  Ludlow  Street.  Farmers,  leaving  their 
horses  and  wagons  hitched  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
brought  their  produce  over  in  the  boat  to  trade  at  the  stores. 

The  Ohio  Republicati  appeared  October  3,  1814,  published  by 
Isaac  G.  Burnet  —  who  had  published  the  Ce?itinel,  which  it  suc- 
ceeded—  and  James  Lodge.  It  was  similar  in  appearance  to  the 
Centifiel,  and  printed  from  the  t3^pe  used  for  that  paper ;  price, 
two  dollars  per  annum  if  paid  in  advance,  two  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  if  paid  within  the  year,  and  three  dollars  if  paid  at  the  end 
of  the  year.  Under  the  title  was  printed  the  motto  :  "  Willing  to 
praise,  but  not  afraid  to  blame."  It  was  devoted  principally  to 
literature  and  foreign  events,  little  attention  being  given  in  news- 
papers of  that  era  to  home  news.  Mr.  Burnet,  who  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  a  luonth  after  the  paper  first  appeared,  sold  his 
interest  to  Mr.  Lodge,  who,  as  two-thirds  of  his  subscribers  did 
not  pay  for  their  paper,  was  obliged  to  cease  publishing  it  Octo- 
ber 9,  1816.  In  November  of  the  same  year  Robert  J.  Skinner 
began  to  issue  the  Ohio  Watch  fna?i  at  the  former  ofl&ce  of  the  Ohio 


i8i2-iSi6  129 

Republicayi,  having  purchased  the  material  and  good-will  of  the 
latter  paper.  Its  first  motto  was,  "Truth,  equality,  and  literary 
knowledge  are  the  grand  pillars  of  republican  libert}-."  For 
this  was  substituted  in  1819,  "A  free  press  is  the  palladium  of 
liberty."  It  was  originally'  a  four-column  folio  paper,  enlarged 
in  1818  to  five  columns,  pages  twelve  b}'  twenty  inches  in  size. 
The  editor  announced  in  1816  that  the  paper  should  be  genuinely 
Republican  in  principles,  "that  he  was  partial  to  the  administra- 
tion then  in  power  [James  Madison  was  President],  but  that  he 
did  not  intend  to  permit  party  prejudice  to  blind  his  eyes  or  to 
make  his  ears  deaf  to  the  principles  of  truth.  The  price  was  the 
same  as  that  charged  for  the  Republican.  In  1820  the  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed,  and  it  was  henceforth  known  as  the  Daj-- 
ton  Watchman  and  Farmers'  and  Mechajiics'  Journal.  It  was 
now  published  by  George  S.  Houston  and  R.  J.  Skinner,  the  lat- 
ter retiring  in  1822.  The  ofl&ce  was  on  the  west  side  of  Main 
Street,  between  First  and  Second,  a  few  doors  south  of  David 
Reid's  inn.  The  publishers  offered  to  receive  in  payment  for 
their  paper  flour,  whisky,  good  hay,  wood,  wheat,  rye,  corn,  oats, 
sugar,  tallow,  beeswax,  honey,  butter,  chickens,  eggs,  wool,  flax, 
feathers,  country  linen,  and  cotton  rags.'  In  January,  1826,  A.  T. 
Haj-s  and  E.  Lindsley  purchased  the  paper,  but  it  ceased  to 
appear  in  November,  1826.  From  1824  it  bore  the  motto,  "De- 
mocracy, literature,  agriculture,  manufactories,  and  internal  im- 
provements, the  pillars  of  our  independence."  It  was  opposed 
to  "mending"  the  Constitution,  and  in  favor  of  the  tariff  of  1824. 
The  three  journals  whose  histories  have  just  been  given  —  really 
one  paper  under  different  names — 'Were  published  once  a  week. 

At  an  early  date  several  medical  societies  were  formed  and  met 
in  Daj'ton,  but  in  vain  has  an  effort  been  made  to  trace  their 
history.  A  call  appeared  in  the  Ohio  Ce?tti7iel  for  July  24,  1814, 
over  the  signature  of  A.  Coleman,  of  Troy,  for  a  meeting  of  the 
Seventh  District  Medical  Society,  to  be  held  in  Dayton  at  Major 
Reid's  tavern,  on  the  first  Monda}-  in  September.  On  the  i6th 
of  October,  1815,  Dr.  John  Steele,  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Censors  of  the  Seventh  Medical  District  of  Ohio,  announced  in 
the  Republican  a  meeting  of  the  board  at  Dayton  on  the  first 
Monday  in  November.  All  the  physicians  who  had  begun  prac- 
tice within  the  Seventh  District  since  181 2,  were  requested  to 
appear  before  the  censors  for  examination.  The  penalty'  for 
neglect  on  the  part  of  censors  to  attend  this  meeting  was  removal 


130  EARLY   DAYTON 

from  ofSce  and  election  of  others  to  fill  their  places.  A  number 
of  physicians  in  the  Seventh  INIedical  District  met  at  Dayton 
July  3,  1816,  and  formed  the  Dayton  Medical  Society,  which  was 
to  meet  here  on  the  first  Mondays  of  April,  July,  and  November. 
Dr.  John  Steele  was  elected  secretary.  The  Montgomery  and 
Clark  County  Medical  Society  was  organized  May  25,  1824,  at 
Raid's  Inn.  Dr.  John  Steele  was  president ;  Dr.  Job  Haines, 
secretary.  Dr.  William  Blodgett  is  the  onl}'  familiar  Dayton 
name  among  the  censors.  At  the  annual  meeting  at  Reid's  Inn 
in  1828,  Dr.  William  Blodgett  was  elected  president,  and  Dr. 
Edwin  Smith  delegate  to  the  medical  convention.  Among  the 
members  of  the  society  were  Doctors  Job  Haines,  John  Steele,  and 
Hibberd  Jewett. 

Dr.  Job  Haines,  mentioned  above,  was  born  and  educated  in 
New  Jersey.  Immediately  after  receiving  his  diploma  as  a 
ph3'sician,  he  came  Jo  Ohio,  settling  in  Dayton  in  1817.  He  was 
"remarkable  for  sound  judgment  and  practical  wisdom,  as  well 
as  for  modesty  and  humility."  He  stood  high  in  his  profession 
and  in  the  estimation  of  the  communit}^  in  general ;  was  Mayor 
of  the  city  in  1833,  and  held  other  municipal  ofiices.  He  was  for 
forty  years  a  member  or  elder  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  unobtrusive  goodness,  the  quiet  activity  in  benevolent 
work,  of  his  daily  life, — the  fact  that  he  was  equally  "a  lover 
of  truth,  and  a  lover  of  peace,  and  a  peacemaker,"  endeared 
him  to  all  who  knew  him  even  slightly.  Constant,  year  in 
and  year  out,  were  his  gratuitous  professional  calls  on  the  sick, 
poor,  and  afflicted.  Never  a  da}^  probably,  passed  that  he  was 
not  seen  with  a  basket  of  nourishing  food  or  dainties,  wending 
his  way  to  the  bedside  of  one  of  these  patients;  and  having 
made  them  comfortable  physically,  the  visit  closed,  if  the  patient 
desired  it,  with  a  few  words  of  prayer  and  a  brief  reading  of  the 
Bible.  But  he  did  not  obtrude  his  religious  views  on  others. 
He  died  July  23,  i860,  aged  sixty-nine. 

The  ladies  of  Dayton  and  the  vicinity  met  at  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Henry  Brown,  on  Main  Street,  next  to  the  Court-house,  at 
three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  April  12,  1815,  to 
organize  the  Dayton  Female  Charitable  and  Bible  Society.  Mem- 
bers were  each  required  to  contribute  one  dollar  per  annum  for 
the  purpose  of  purchasing  Bibles,  and  to  make  a  contribution  of 
twenty-five  cents  every  three  months  to  the  charitable  fund. 
The  society   was   organized   for    the    purpose    of  gratuitously 


i8i2-i8i6  131 

distributing  the  Bible  and  seeking  the  sick,  the  afflicted,  and 
needy,  particularly  of  their  own  sex,  relieving  their  wants  and 
administering  to  their  comfort  and  giving  consolation  to  them 
in  their  distress,  as  far  as  was  in  their  power.  The  following 
ladies  were  elected  officers  of  the  society :  President,  Mrs.  Robert 
Patterson ;  vice-president,  Mrs.  Thomas  Cottom ;  corresponding 
secretary,  Mrs.  Dr.  James  Welsh  ;  recording  secretary,  INIrs.  Joseph 
H.  Crane  ;  treasurer,  Mrs.  Joseph  Peirce  ;  managers,  Mrs.  William 
King,  Mrs.  David  Reid,  Mrs.  James  Hanna,  Mrs.  James  Steele, 
and  Mrs.  Isaac  Spining.  This  was  the  first  society  of  this  kind 
organized  in  Dayton,  though  the  ladies  who  formed  it  were 
previously  and  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives  noted  for  their 
benevolence  and  good  works.  A  charity  sermon  for  the  benefit 
of  the  society  was  preached  by  Rev.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, in  the  Methodist  meeting-house  on  Sunday,  June  25.  A 
charily  sermon  was  henceforth,  as  long  as  the  Charitable  Society 
existed,  annually  preached  by  Dayton  ministers  in  turn. 

Robert  Strain  opened  in  May,  1815,  in  his  large  brick  building 
on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Fourth  streets,  the  site  of  the  United 
Brethren  Publishing  House,  a  travelers'  inn,  which  was  long 
a  favorite  tavern.  A  millinery  shop  was  opened  on  June  26 
by  Ann  Yamer  on  Main  Street,  south  of  Second.  Besides 
attractive  goods  for  ladies,  she  announced  in  the  Republican  a 
full  stock  of  plumes  and  other  decorations  for  military  gentle- 
men, and  that  she  was  in  need  of  a  supply  of  goose-feathers.  It 
will  be  seen  that  business  was  now  advancing  southward  on 
Main  Street. 

The  first  market-house  was  opened  July  4,  1815.  The  markets 
were  held  from  four  to  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Wednesdays 
and  Saturdays.  The  house  was  a  frame  building,  and  stood  on 
Second  Street,  between  Main  and  Jefferson.  On  either  side  of 
the  interior  were  butchers'  stalls,  and  there  were  stands  for 
farmers  and  gardeners  on  the  outside,  under  the  wide-extending 
eaves.  Two  long  horse-racks,  or  rails,  extended  from  the  build- 
ing along  Second  or  Market  Street — as  the  part  of  Second  Street 
on  which  it  stood  was  then  called  —  nearly  to  Main  Street.  On 
April  I,  1816,  an  ordinance  took  effect  which  forbade  the  sale, 
within  the  corporation,  on  any  other  than  market  day,  of  butter, 
eggs,  cheese,  poultry,  vegetables,  fresh  fish,  or  meat,  with  some 
exceptions  as  to  meat  and  fish,  which  could  be  purchased  every 
day  before  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.     Prices  were  low  in 


132  EARLY  DAYTON 

1816 ;  butter  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  pound  ;  eggs  eight  cents 
a  dozen.  Flour,  however,  was  five  dollars  per  barrel,  and  the 
next  year  six  dollars. 

The  Watchman  says  in  July,  1822,  when  flour  was  two  dollars 
and  a  half  a  barrel,  butter  five  cents  a  pound,  chickens  fifty  cents 
a  dozen,  beef  one  to  three  cents  per  pound,  and  ham  two  to  three 
cents  per  pound,  that  the  Dayton  price-list,  published  weeklj^  in 
the  newspaper,  had  been  noticed  in  the  Eastern  papers  under  the 
head  of  "  Cheap  Living,"  and  the  low  prices  of  marketing  here 
attributed  to  the  scarcitj'  of  money  in  the  "West.  The  Watchma7i 
assured  the  people  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  that  the  great  abundance 
of  countr}'  produce  of  all  kinds  was  the  true  reason  that  living  was 
cheap  in  Ohio,  and  that  money  ' '  is  quite  as  plenty  witli  us  as 
notions  in  the  Eastern  States ! ' ' 

In  spite  of  wretched  roads  and  lack  of  forage,  large  numbers 
of  cattle,  horses,  and  hogs  were  driven,  after  the  War  of  1812, 
from  this  neighborhood  to  the  Eastern  market.  The  Rev.  Timothy 
Flint  says,  in  his  "Letters  on  Recollections  of  the  Last  Ten  Years 
in  the  Mississippi  Vallej',"  that  on  his  journey  west  in  Novem- 
ber, 1S15,  he  met  a  drove  of  one  thousand  cattle  and  hogs  on  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  which  were  "of  an  unnatural  shagginess 
and  roughness,  like  wolves,  and  the  drovers  from  Mad  River  were 
as  untamed  and  wild  in  their  looks  as  Crusoe's  man  Friday." 
These  swine  lived  in  the  Mad  River  and  INIiami  woods  on  beach- 
nuts  and  acorns,  could  successfully  defend  themselves  and  their 
young  against  wolves,  and  when  desired  for  food  were  shot  like 
other  wild  animals. 

In  1815  there  were  about  one  hundred  dwellings  in  Dayton,  the 
majority  of  them  log  cabins.  From  1814  to  1815  the  revenue  of 
the  county  was  $3,280.51,  an  increase  in  one  year  of  11,431.64. 
The  license  for  a  store  was  fifteen  dollars  and  the  clerk's  fee  fifty 
cents  in  18 15. 

Two  clubs  or  societies  of  men  were  formed  in  July  of  this 
year  — the  Moral  Society  and  the  Society  of  Associated  Bach- 
elors. The  object  of  the  first  organization,  as  its  name  would 
indicate,  was  to  suppress  vice  and  to  promote  order,  morality,  and 
religion,  and  more  particularly  to  countenance,  support,  and  assist 
magistrates  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  important  duties,  and 
in  enforcing  the  laws  against  Sabbath-breaking,  profane  swearing, 
and  other  unlawful  practices.  The  society  is  careful  to  state  in 
its  constitution  that  it  is  not  its  intention  to  exercise  a  censorious 


i8i2-i8i6 


133 


or  inquisitorial  authority  over  the  private  transactions  or  con- 
cerns of  individuals.  John  Hanna  was  elected  chairman  ;  George 
S.  Hou.ston,  secretary;  managers,  William  King,  Henry  Robert- 
son, Matthew  Patton,  John  Patterson,  and  Aaron  Baker.  The 
meetings  of  the  Moral  Society  were  held  on  the  first  Saturday  in 
October,  January,  April,  and  July.  On  the  12th  of  August,  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  society  assembled  in  the  Meth- 
odist meeting-house  to  listen  to  a  sermon  from  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Findlay.  The  Society  of  Associated  Bachelors  was  intended  for 
recreation,  and  usually  met  in  Strain's  bar-room.  George  S. 
Houston,  secretary  of  the  Moral  Society,  was  at  the  same  time 
president  of  the  Associated  Bachelors,  so  that  the  character 
of  the  two  organizations  could  not  have  been  as  antagonistic  as 
one  might  suppose.  On  the  24th  of  September,  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  the  Moral  Society,  Mr.  Houston  was  married  to 
"the  amiable  Miss  Mary  Forman."  Joseph  John,  secretary  of 
the  Associated  Bachelors,  was  soon  after  married  to  Miss  Jane 
Waugh,  of  Washington  Township.  The  Republican  made  merry 
over  the  fact  that  both  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  Society 
of  the  Associated  Bachelors  were  married.  Their  successors 
were  immediately  elected — Dr.  John  Steele  president,  and  Alex- 
ander Grimes  secretary. 

The  grist-mill,  and  fulling-mill,  and  two  carding-machines  be- 
longing to  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  two  miles  from  town,  were 
destroyed  by  fire  on  the  7th  of  October.  This  was  a  calamity  to 
many  poor  families,  as  well  as  to  the  proprietor,  as  there  was  a 
quantity  of  cloth  and  wool  belonging  to  cUvStomers  in  the  mills. 
Thej^  were  soon  rebuilt. 

This  year  D.  C.  Cooper  was  president  and  J.  H.  Crane  recorder 
of  the  Select  Council  of  Dayton.  D.  C.  Cooper  was  elected  State 
Senator,  and  George  Grove  and  George  Newcom  Representatives 
in  the  Legislature.  Aaron  Baker,  who  had  no  opponent,  was 
elected  coroner.  In  1815  Mrs.  Dionicile  Sullivan  opened  a  school 
for  girls,  in  which  were  taught  reading,  writing,  sewing,  letter- 
ing with  the  needle,  and  painting, — the  first  school  of  the  kind 
in  Dayton. 

Daniel  C.  Cooper  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  in  1816,  and 
also  president  of  the  Town  Council.  Joseph  Peirce  was  recorder  ; 
trustees,  Aaron  Baker,  H.  G.  Phillips,  Ralph  Wilson,  O.  B.  Con- 
over,  and  George  Grove.  On  the  evening  of  April  22,  1S16,  the 
first  theater  was  held  in  Dayton  at  the  dwelling  of  William  Huff- 


134  EARLY    DAYTON 

man,  on  St.  Clair  Street.  The  much-admired,  elegant  comedj^ 
called  "Matrimony,  or  The  Prisoners,"  and  the  celebrated  comic 
farce  called  "The  Village  Lawyer,"  were,  the  advertisement 
states,  to  be  given,  and  between  the  play  and  the  farce  were  to  be 
presented  two  recitations,  "Scolding  Life  Reclaimed"  and 
"  Monsieur  Tonson,"  a  fancy  dance,  and  a  comic  song,  "  Bag  of 
Nails."  Tickets,  fifty  cents.  Curtain  to  rise  at  half  past  seven 
precisely.  Gentlemen  were  requested  not  to  smoke  cigars  in  the 
theater. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

1816-1835 

New  Brick  Court-House  of  1817— Ferries  — First  Bridges— Sabbath-School 
Association— Sunday -School  Society  — Game  Abundant — Flights  of  Wild 
Pigeons  — Migrations  of  Squirrels— Fish  — Stage-Coaches  — St.  Thomas 
Episcopal  Church  —  Christ  Episcopal  Church — Shows  —  Volunteer  Fire  De- 
partment, 1820  to  1863— Leading  Citizens  Active  Members— Feuds  Between 
Rival  Engine  Companies  — Financial  Depression,   1820  to  1822  —  Fever 

—  Lancasterian  School  — Francis  Glass— Gi-idiron  Newspaper  —  il/jawif  He- 
publican  and  Dayton  Advertiser — George  B.  Holt— Consolidation  of  Watch- 
man and  Republican— Dayton  Journal — Contribution  to  the  Greek  Cause — 
James  Perrine,  First  Insurance  Agent — First  Baptist  Church  Built — Letr 
ter  froin  Dayton  in  1827— Canal  Agitation — Dinner  and  Reception  to  De 
Witt  Clinton  —  First  Canal-Boat  Arrives — Enthusiasm  of  the  People — Ex- 
tension of  Canal  by  Cooper  Estate  — Law  Providing  for  Election  of  Mayor 
— Town  Divided  into  Wards  — Temperance  Society  — New  Market-House 

—  Rivalry  Between  Dayton  and  Cablntown  — Private  Schools— Manual- 
Training  School— Seely's  Basin  — Peasley's  Garden  — Miniature  Locomo- 
tive and  Car  Exhibited  in  Methodist  Church  — Day tonians  Take  Their 
First  Railroad  Ride— Seneca  Indians  Camp  at  Dayton  — First  Public 
Schools— School-Directors— Steele's  Dam— General  R.  C.  Schenck  — Polit- 
ical Excitement— Council  Cuts  Down  a  Jackson  Pole  — Cholera  in  18;32 
and  1833— Silk  Manufactory —The  Dayton  Lyceum— Mechanics'  Institute 
—Six  Libraries  in  Dayton  — Eighth  of  January  Barbecue— Town  Watch- 
men—Lafayette Commemorative  Services. 

It  became  necessary,  on  account  of  the  increase  of  county 
business,  to  build  a  new  Court-house  in  i8i6.  Finished  in  1817, 
it  was  of  brick,  two  stories  high,  forty-six  feet  front  and  twenty 
feet  deep,  and  cost  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-nine 
dollars.  It  stood  on  the  corner  of  the  Court-house  lot.  The 
Waichman  rented  the  upper  story  in  1818,  "at  fifty  dollars  per 
year  and  free  publication  of  the  annual  report  of  the  treasurer 
and  election  notices."  For  same  time  the  second-story  rooms 
were  rented  for  lawyers'  offices. 

In  the  spring  of  1817  the  advertisements  of  D.  Stout,  saddler, 
J.  Stutsman,  coppersmith,  and  Moses  Hatfield,  chairmaker, 
appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the  Watchman.     This  year  George 

135 


136  EARLY    DAYTON 

Newcom  was  elected  State  Senator,  and  William  George  and 
George  Grove  members  of  the  lower  house ;  D.  C.  Cooper,  presi- 
dent of  the  Town  Council ;  W.  Hunger,  recorder  ;  John  Patterson, 
corporation  treasurer. 

Until  1817  Daytonians  could  only  cross  the  rivers  by  fording 
or  in  a  ferry.  In  December,  1817,  a  bridge  at  Taylor  Street  over 
Mad  River,  built  by  the  county  for  one  thousand  four  hundred 
dollars,  was  finished.  It  was  a  high,  uncovered  bridge,  painted 
red.  It  fell  into  the  river  in  1828,  but  was  rebuilt  at  once.  In 
January,  181 7,  a  stock  company  was  incorporated  to  build  the 
red  toll-bridge  across  the  Miami  at  Bridge  Street.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  the  incorporators :  Robert  Patterson,  Joseph 
Peirce,  David  Reid,  H.  G.  Phillips,  James  Steele,  George  S. 
Houston,  William  George,  and  William  King.  It  was  not  fin- 
ished till  1819.  The  people  were  ver}'  proud  of  this  bridge,  which 
the  Watchniati  describes  as  "a  useful  and  stately  structure,  .  .  . 
little  inferior  in  strength  and  beauty  to  the  best  of  the  kind  in 
the  State,  and  renders  the  Miami  no  longer  an  obstruction  to  the 
free  intercourse  with  our  neighbors  on  the  other  side." 

The  Sabbath-School  Association,  the  first  organization  of  that 
kind  in  Dayton,  was  formed  in  March,  1817,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Rev.  Backus  Wilbur,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church — a  very  popular  man,  for  whom  a  number  of  prominent 
citizens  were  named.  He  died  in  1818.  The  inscription  on  his 
monument  at  Woodland  Cemetery  was  written  by  the  celebrated 
Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  of  Princeton.  A  long  obituary 
of  Mr.  Wilbur  was  published  in  the  Watclunan  February  18, 
1819.  The  Sabbath-School  Association  held  its  meetings  in  the 
new  Presbyterian  church.  An  annual  fee  of  twenty-five  cents 
entitled  any  one  to  membership.  All  denominations  were  repre- 
sented, and  most  of  the  children  of  the  town  seem  to  have  been 
enrolled.  The  list  of  names  preserved  in  the  history  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  is  very  interesting.  Donors  of  five  dollars 
or  more  became  life-members.  The  society  was  managed  by 
ladies,  the  ofiicers  consisting  of  a  first  and  second  directress,  a 
secretary,  treasurer,  and  five  managers.  The  managers  appointed 
the  superintendent  and  the  male  and  female  teachers.  The  first 
board  of  managers  consisted  of  the  following  ladies  :  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Crane,  Mrs.  Ayres,  Mrs.  Dr.  Haines,  Mrs.  Hannah  George,  and 
Mrs.  Joseph  Peirce.  Mrs.  Sarah  Bomberger  was  the  first 
superintendent,  and  held  the  position  for  nearly  twelve  years. 


1816-1835  137 

Mrs.  George,  mother  of  Mrs.  Bomberger,  was  for  several  years 
secretary,  and  was  very  efl&cient.  Mrs.  Bomberger  was  the 
daughter  of  Judge  George,  a  leading  citizen,  who  came  to  Day- 
ton about  1805.  In  1810  she  married  William  Bomberger,  who 
was  county  treasurer  for  fourteen  years.  Their  children  were 
George  W.,  Ann,  who  married  Peter  P.  L,owe,  and  William,  who 
removed  to  Colorado  and  died  there.  In  the  spring  of  1822 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Crane,  first  directress  of  the  Dayton  Sabbath-School 
Association,  reported  that  they  had  distributed  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  books  during  the  previous  year,  had  one  hundred  and 
twelve  tracts  and  five  miniature  histories  of  the  Bible  on  hand, 
and  $19.75  in  the  treasury. 

The  Methodist  Sunday-School  Society  was  organized  in  July, 
1818.  Their  meetings  were  held  in  the  academy  building. 
Adults  and  children  were  taught  to  read,  and  instructed  in  the 
Bible  and  catechism.  There  were,  of  course,  no  public  schools 
here  at  that  date. 

D.  C.  Cooper  and  H.  G.  Phillips  were  the  only  persons  in  Day- 
ton owning  carriages  in  181 7. 

The  old  Newcom  Tavern  was  reopened  in  December  by  Blackall 
Stephens.  The  tavern  was  now  called  the  "ISun  Inn,"  and  the 
swinging  sign  was  decorated  with  a  large  picture  of  the  sun.  In 
an  advertisement  in  the  Watchman,  with  the  sun  flaming  at  its 
head,  the  house  is  described  as  "  pleasantl3^  situated  on  the  bank 
of  the  Miami  River,"  and  the  advantages  of  the  inn,  its  comforts, 
sufficient  supply  of  bed-linen,  furniture,  and  other  necessaries 
are  set  forth  at  length. 

Game  was  nearly  as  abundant  here  at  the  date  we  have  now 
reached  as  it  was  twenty  years  earlier.  Mr.  Samuel  Forrer  says 
in  his  reminiscences  of  Dayton  in  1818  :  "  I  remember  that  I  killed 
three  pheasants  on  the  present  site  of  Mr.  Van  Ausdal's  house, 
in  Dayton  View.  Quails,  rabbits,  etc.,  were  found  in  plenty  in 
'Buck  Pasture,'  immediately  east  of  the  canal  basin,  between 
First  and  Second  streets.  Wild  ducks  came  in  large  flocks  to  the 
ponds  within  the  present  city  limits,  but  the  ponds  have  since 
been  mainly  wiped  out  by  drainage;  and  the  fox-hunters  had  a 
great  time  on  occasion  by  visiting  the  '  Brush  Prairie,'  within  two 
miles  of  the  Court-house.  Deer,  wild  turkeys,  and  other  game 
were  killed  in  the  neighborhood,  and  venison  and  wild  meat 
were  easily  obtainable  in  Dayton."  In  182 1  Mr.  H.  G.  Phillips 
frequently  advertised  a  few  coonskins  for  sale  —  used  for  caps. 


138  EARLY    DAYTON 

The  Watchvia7i  in  April,  1822,  notices  a  squirrel-hunt  in  Mont- 
gomery County  lasting  a  day  and  a  half,  in  which  one  thousand 
squirrels  were  killed,  and  their  scalps  produced  in  evidence. 

Within  the  recollection  of  Robert  W.  Steele,  as  late  as  1830  and 
1S40,  game  and  fish  were  still  abundant.  An  occasional  deer 
could  be  found,  and  wild  turkeys  and  pheasants  were  often  shot 
by  hunters.  Squirrels  and  quails  were  thick  in  the  woods  and 
fields,  and  in  the  fall  immense  flights  of  wild  pigeons  alighted 
in  the  woods  to  feed  on  the  mast.  At  irregular  inter\'als  one  of 
those  strange  migrations  of  squirrels  would  occur,  for  which  no 
satisfactory  cause  has  been  given  by  naturalists.  Starting  from 
the  remote  Northwest,  they  would  come  in  countless  numbers, 
and  nothing  could  turn  them  from  their  course.  Rivers  were  no 
impediment  to  them,  and  bo3-s  would  stand  on  the  shore  of  the 
Miami  and  kill  them  with  clubs  as  they  emerged  from  the  water. 

The  rivers  were  still  full  of  fish.  No  more  delicious  table-fish 
could  be  found  anj^where  than  the  bass,  when  taken  from  the 
pure,  clear  water  of  the  Miami  and  Mad  rivers  of  that  day.  On 
the  mill-race,  which  has  since  been  converted  into  the  Dayton 
View  Hydraulic,  stood  Steele's  sawmill,  which  ran  only  in  the 
daytime.  At  night  the  water  was  passed  through  a  fish-basket, 
and  each  morning  during  the  fish  season  it  was  found  filled  with 
bass  of  the  largest  size.  In  1835  one  Saturday  afternoon  a  seine 
was  drawn  in  the  Miami,  between  the  IVIain  Street  and  Bridge 
Street  bridges,  and  two  large  wagon-loads  of  fine  fish  were  caught. 
Whatever  hardships  the  pioneers  of  Daj'ton  may  have  endured, 
they  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  luxuries  that  would  have  tickled 
the  palate  of  an  epicure.  Fish-baskets,  alluded  to  above,  were 
usually  made  by  building  a  dam  on  the  riffles,  so  as  to  concen- 
trate the  water  at  the  middle  of  the  river,  where  an  opening  was 
made  into  a  box  constructed  of  slats,  and  placed  at  a  lower  level 
than  the  dam.  Into  this  box  the  fish  ran,  but  were  unable  to 
retvirn.  A  basket  of  this  kind  remained  on  the  riffle  at  the  foot 
of  First  Street  as  late  as  1830. 

Previous  to  1818  people  wishing  to  visit  Cincinnati  were  obliged 
to  travel  by  private  conveyance.  But  in  the  summer  of  this  year  a 
Mr.  Lj'on  drove  a  passenger-coach  from  Da3'ton  to  Cincinnati 
once  a  week,  beginning  his  trips  in  May.  On  June  2  D.  C. 
Cooper,  of  Dayton,  and  John  H.  Piatt,  of  Cincinnati,  began  run- 
ning a  weekly  mail-stage  between  the  two  towns,  passing  through 
Springdale,   Hamilton,   Middletown,    and  Franklin.     Two  da5-s 


1816-1835  139 

and  a  night  were  required  for  the  trip,  the  night  being  spent  in 
Hamilton.  The  fare  was  eight  cents  a  mile,  with  an  allowance 
of  fourteen  pounds  of  baggage.  John  Crowder,  a  colored  barber 
of  Dayton,  and  his  partner,  Jacob  Musgrave,  also  colored,  drove 
a  coach  and  four  that  carried  twelve  passengers  to  Cincinnati  and 
return  in  1820.  Timothy  Squier  ran  a  stage  to  Cincinnati  in  1822. 
Five  o'clock  in  the  morning  was  the  hour  of  starting  by  coach. 
Worden  Huffman  owned  the  stage-line  to  Columbus,  which  con- 
nected at  that  place  with  a  coach  to  Chillicothe.  In  Ji:ne,  1825, 
stages  commenced  running  twice  a  week  between  Columbus, 
Dayton,  and  Cincinnati.  When  this  line  was  first  established,  it 
was  thought  by  many  that  all  interested  in  it  were  throwing 
their  money  away.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  it  became 
necessary  to  increase  the  number  of  trips  to  two  a  week,  and 
finally  a  daily  stage  was  established.  In  1827  we  were  connected 
with  Lake  Erie  by  triweekly  coaches,  the  trip  taking  four  days. 
Daily  coaches  were  started  June  25,  connecting  at  Sandusky  with 
steamers  for  Detroit  and  Buffalo,  and  at  Mt.  Vernon  with  a  stage 
for  Cleveland.  The  fare  to  Cincinnati  was  three  dollars,  six  dol- 
lars to  Columbus,  and  twelve  dollars  to  the  lake.  Four  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  passengers  by  stage  passed  through  Dayton  in 
1825.  In  1828  there  were  stage-lines  in  every  direction,  twentj^ 
coaches  arriving  here  every  week. 

In  the  era  of  ungraveled  roads,  when  the  coach  went  bumping 
over  rough  wagon-ruts,  or  splashing  into  deep  mud-holes,  or 
stuck  fast  in  the  mire,  the  journey  to  Cincinnati  was  a  serious 
undertaking.  It  was  ten  or  fifteen  j-ears  later  than  1825  before 
a  short  and  pleasant  trip  could  be  made  over  an  excellent  turn- 
pike in  an  "Indian  bow-spring  coach,"  which  was  superior  to 
all  sorts  in  use.  A  guard  accompanied  each  coach,  and  the 
drivers  were  well  behaved,  and  understood  their  business.  In 
1840  there  were  two  daily  lines  of  these  coaches,  owned  by 
J.  &  P.  Voorhees,  one  leaving  at  eight  in  the  morning,  and  the 
other  in  the  evening. 

In  1818  George  Grove  and  Judge  George  were  elected  members 
ol  the  Legislature,  and  Warren  Hunger  town  recorder.  George 
Newcom  was  elected  State  Senator  in  1819,  and  Henry  Stoddard 
and  John  Harries  Representatives.  The  number  of  voters  in 
Dayton  in  1819  was  seven  hundred  and  sixt^-'five,  and  the 
number  in  Montgomery  County  two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-five. 


I40  EARLY    DAYTON 

In  1819  St.  Thomas  Church  —  the  first  Episcopal  church  in 
Dayton  —  was  organized  by  Bishop  Chase  with  twenty -three 
members.  In  183 1  Christ  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  by 
Rev.  Ethan  Allen,  and  in  1833  they  built  the  first  Episcopal 
house  of  worship  erected  in  Dayton  on  South  Jeiferson,  near 
Fifth  Street. 

Shows  in  Dayton  were  few  and  far  between  at  that  period.  In 
1819  an  African  lion  was  exhibited  in  the  barnyard  of  Reid's  Inn 
for  four  days,  from  nine  in  the  morning  till  five  in  the  afternoon. 
Patrons  were  assured  that  they  would  be  in  no  danger,  as  the 
lion,  "the  largest  in  America,  and  the  only  one  of  his  sort,"  was 
secured  in  a  strong  cage.  Twenty-five  cents  admittance  was 
charged;  children,  half  price.  In  April,  1820,  "Columbus,"  a 
large  elephant,  was  on  exhibition  in  the  carriage-house  of  Reid's 
Inn — ^admittance,  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents;  children,  half 
price.  In  1823  the  advertisement  of  a  menagerie,  containing  an 
African  lion,  African  leopard,  cougar  from  Brazil,  Shetland  pony 
with  rider,  ichneumon,  and  several  other  animals,  appeared  in 
the  newspaper.  A  band,  composed  of  ancient  Jewish  cymbals 
and  numerous  modern  instruments,  accompanied  the  show.  The 
show  at  Reid's  Inn  in  1824  contained  but  one  elephant.  The  first 
circus  which  appeared  in  Dayton  exhibited  in  Reid's  barnyard 
July  19,  20,  and  25,  1825.  No  more  circuses  came  till  1829,  when 
two  exhibited,  both  on  July  5  and  6.  In  August,  1827,  a  travel- 
ing museum,  consisting  of  birds,  beasts,  wax  figures,  paintings, 
etc.,  visited  Dayton.  One  of  the  articles  exhibited  is  advertised 
in  a  style  worthy  of  Barnum,  as  "that  great  natural  curiosity, 
the  Indian  mummy,  which  was  discovered  and  taken  from  the 
interior  of  a  cave  in  Warren  County,  Kentucky,  where  it  was 
probably  secreted  in  its  present  state  of  preservation  for  one 
thousand  years."  These  museums,  carried  in  cars  or  vans  drawn 
by  horses,  traveled  all  over  the  Western  countr}'  in  early  times. 
When  they  reached  a  town  or  village,  the  horses  were  unhar- 
nessed, and  the  cars  were  fastened  together  so  as  to  make  a 
continuous  room  for  the  display  of  the  curiosities. 

Cooper's  Mills  were  burned  on  the  20th  of  June,  1820,  and  four 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat  and  two  thousand  pounds  of  wool 
destroyed.  They  were  soon  after  rebuilt  by  H.  G.  Phillips  and 
James  Steele,  executors  of  the  Cooper  estate.  This  was  the  first 
fire  of  any  importance  that  occurred  in  Dayton,  and  led  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  first  fire-company.     Council  provided  ladders. 


From  a  photograph  by  Wolfe. 


CITY    BUILDINGS. 


1816-1835  141 

which  were  hung  on  the  outside  wall  of  the  market-house  on 
Second  Street,  and  also  passed  an  ordinance  requiring  each 
householder  to  provide  two  long,  black,  leather  buckets,  with  his 
name  painted  thereon  in  white  letters,  and  keep  them  in  some 
place  easily  accessible  in  case  of  an  alarm  of  fire.  Before  this  no 
public  provision  for  putting  out  fires  had  been  made. 

On  the  night  of  November  16,  1824,  George  Grove's  hat-store 
and  the  shop  of  Hollis,  the  watchmaker,  were  destroyed,  the  loss 
being  about  one  thousand  dollars.  This  fire,  which  was  the  first 
of  an}'  size  which  had  occurred  since  1820,  created  a  good  deal  of 
excitement,  as  the  corporation  ladders  were  not  in  their  place  at 
the  market-house,  and  the  whole  dependence  for  extinguishing 
the  fire  was  on  the  leather  buckets  of  citizens.  An  ordinance 
was  passed  threatening  persons  removing  the  public  ladders  from 
the  market-house,  except  in  case  of  fire,  with  a  fine  of  ten  dollars, 
and  providing  that  a  merchant  who  was  going  to  Philadelphia  in 
the  spring  of  1825  should  be  furnished  with  two  hundred  and 
twentj'-six  dollars  and  directed  to  purchase  a  fire-engine. 

On  March  10,  1827,  soon  after  the  engine  arrived,  the  first  vol- 
unteer fire-company  of  Dayton  was  organized.  George  C.  Davis 
was  captain.  At  the  same  time  a  hook-and-ladder  company,  of 
which  Joseph  Hollingsworth  was  captain,  was  formed.  John  W. 
Van  Cleve  was  appointed  by  Council  chief  engineer  of  the  Fire 
Department.  The  following  fire-wardens  were  appointed  :  James 
Steele,  Abram  Darst,  Dr.  Job  Haines,  and  Matthew  Patton.  It 
was  the  duty  of  the  wardens  to  periodically  inspect  the  fire 
apparatus.  A  board  of  fire-guards  was  soon  after  appointed, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  isolate  and  take  charge  of  the  neighborhood 
where  the  fire  occurred  while  it  was  in  progress  and  immediately 
afterward.  The  church  bells  sounded  the  fire-alarm,  and  fifty 
cents  were  paid  to  each  sexton  when  the  fire  happened  after  nine 
in  the  evening.  The  one  who  rang  his  bell  first  received  a  dollar. 
The  engine  was  a  small  afiair,  filled  with  the  leather  buckets,  and 
the  water  was  thrown  by  turning  a  crank  in  its  side.  Not  much 
care  was  taken  of  it,  for  at  a  fire  that  occurred  in  183 1  it  could  not 
be  used,  as  it  was  filled  with  ice,  the  water  not  having  been  taken 
out  after  a  fire  which  had  occurred  several  weeks  before.  A 
second  engine  was  bought  in  1833  and  a  third  in  1834,  bj'  sub- 
scription. 

In  1827  householders  who  had  not  themselves  procured  fire- 
buckets  were   provided  with  them  by  the  town,   the   wardens 


142  EARLY    DAYTON 

distributing  them  at  the  engine-house,  a  frame  building  on  the 
Court-house  lot  near  the  Main  Street  alley.  Council  expended 
$112.50  on  buckets,  half  of  which  were  kept  at  the  engine-house 
and  the  rest  at  private  dwellings.  Buckets  kept  by  citizens  were 
for  twenty  years  inspected  every  April  by  the  wardens. 

An  alarm  of  fire  brought  out  the  whole  population  of  the  town, 
and  the  greatest  excitement  and  confusion  prevailed.  Double 
lines  were  formed  to  the  nearest  pump,  one  line  passing  down 
the  full  buckets  and  the  other  returning  the  empty  ones.  Women 
were  often  efiicient  workers  in  these  lines.  The  water  in  a  well 
would  soon  be  exhausted,  and  a  move  had  to  be  made  to  one  more 
remote.  It  was  hopeless  to  contend  with  a  fire  of  any  magnitude, 
and  efforts  in  such  cases  were  only  made  to  prevent  the  spreading 
of  the  flames. 

In  1828  the  following  fire-wardens  were  appointed :  James 
Steele,  George  W.  Smith,  Alexander  Grimes,  Matthew  Patton, 
and  Warren  Munger ;  engineer,  John  W.  Van  Cleve.  In  1833 
a  company,  called  the  "Safety  Fire-Engine  and  Hose  Com- 
pany, No.  I,"  was  formed  and  offered  its  services  to  Council.  To 
it  was  entrusted  the  new  hand-engine,  the  "Safety,"  which  had 
suction-hose  and  gallery-brakes,  and  five  hundred  feet  of 
hose.  The  following  were  the  first  officers  of  the  company : 
Foreman,  James  Perrine;  assistant  foreman,  Valentine  Winters  ; 
secretary,  J.  D.  Loomis ;  treasurer,  T.  R.  Black ;  leader  of 
hose-company,  Thomas  Brown  ;  assistant  leader,  Henry  Diehl ; 
directors,  William  P.  Huffman,  Jacob  Wilt,  Peter  Baer,  Henry 
Biechler,  and  Abraham  Overlease.  Fire-cisterns  were  built  this 
year  under  the  streets  at  First  and  Main,  Third  and  Main,  and 
Fifth  and  Main,  and  elsewhere.  The  cisterns  were  pumped  full 
from  neighboring  wells,  or  filled  by  the  engines,  with  hose,  from 
the  river  or  canal.  In  1834  Alexander  Grimes,  I.  T.  Harker, 
John  Rench,  D.  Stone,  and  others  formed  a  company  called  the 
"Fire-Guards."  They  carried  white  wands,  and  it  was  their 
duty  to  protect  property  and  keep  order  at  fires.  The  following 
fire-wardens  were  appointed  in  1836:  First  ward,  Matthew 
Patton  and  Moses  Simpson ;  second  ward,  James  Steele  and 
Abram  Darst ;  third,  Musto  Chambers  and  Samuel  Shoup ; 
fourth,  John  Rench  and  David  Osborn ;  fifth,  A.  Artz  and 
William  Hart. 

A  fire  occurred  here  in  1839  which  on  account  of  bad  manage- 
ment excited  much  indignation.      According  to  the  newspaper 


1816-1835  143 

report,  while  the  work  of  preservation  was  going  on  outside,  an 
officious  crowd,  as  was  apt  to  be  the  case  in  those  days,  was 
playing  havoc  within  doors.  "In  their  eagerness  to  save  the 
owners  from  loss  by  fire,  they  wrenched  the  doors  from  the  hinges, 
pulled  the  mantels  from  their  places,  shattered  the  windows,  and 
broke  the  sash."  The  next  issue  of  the  paper  contained  the 
following  card  from  officers  of  fire-companies  : 

"  Each  company  claims  for  itself  the  right  to  control  its  engine, 
hose,  and  pipe,  and  any  interference  b}'  an  individual  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  association  is  calculated  to  create  useless  altercation 
and  to  retard  the  effective  operation  of  the  firemen.  The  brakes 
of  our  engines  are  always  free  to  those  who  desire  to  render 
effective  aid.  All  we  ask  is  that  those  who  are  not  connected 
with  the  Fire  Department  would  either  remain  at  a  distance  or 
work  at  the  engines,  believing,  as  we  do,  that  the  confusion 
created  at  fires  is  occasioned  by  those  who  are  not  connected  with 
the  engines. 

"E.  W.  Davies,  President  Second  Engine  Company. 

"E.  Favorite,  Vice-President. 

"V.  Winters,  Foreman  Safety  Engine  and  Hose  Company. 

"Frederic  Boyer,  Assistant. 

"E.  Carroll  Roe,  President  Enterprise  Company." 

It  was  difficult  to  maintain  order  in  a  volunteer  fire  department 
even  when  Dayton  was  a  village,  but  as  it  grew  into  a  city  and 
the  rougher  elements  of  society  were  largely  represented,  fires 
became  scenes  of  wildest  excitement  and  disorder.  There  was  a 
constant  rivalry  between  the  different  companies  as  to  who  should 
reach  the  conflagration  first,  as  to  which  engine  threw  the  first 
water,  as  to  which  officer  or  private  member  deserved  most  honor 
for  heroic  or  long-continued  service.  This  led  to  bitter  feuds : 
the  hose  of  an  engine  was  sometimes  cut  by  members  or 
adherents  of  another  company  ;  while  striving  for  the  most 
advantageous  position  or  engaged  in  an  altercation  on  other 
points,  the  men  frequently  came  to  blows  and  fought  each  other 
instead  of  the  fire;  stones  were  thrown,  ladders,  trumpets  —  au}^- 
thing  that  came  handy  was  used  as  a  weapon  of  assault  or 
defense,  and  both  firemen  and  spectators  were  often  serioush^ 
injured.  Going  to  a  fire  was  like  facing  a  mob,  yet  everybody' 
went,  whatever  hour  of  night  or  day  the  flames  broke  out :  such 
unusual  excitement  was  not  to  be  missed  by  the  men  and  women 
of  our  then  quiet  little  town.  Every  boy  and  nearly  every  man 
in  town  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  was  almost  as  ardent  a  partisan 
of  the  Independent  Fire-Company,  the  Vigilance,  the  Deluge, 


144  EARLY    DAYTON 

Oregon,  etc.,  as  of  the  political  partj'  to  which  b}-  inheritance  or 
conviction  he  belonged.  But  from  1856  there  was,  among  the 
conservative  class  of  citizens,  a  growing  discontent  with  our 
unmanageable  Fire  Department.  In  1863  the  first  steam-engine 
was  purchased  and  our  present  splendidly-  equipped  and  perfectly 
ordered  paid  department  inaugurated. 

The  flush  times  during  the  War  of  1812  were  followed  by  a 
serious  and  general  depression  in  business  throughout  the 
United  States,  and  the  growth  of  Dayton  till  1827  was  slight. 
Gold  and  silver  were  withdrawn  from  circulation  to  the  great 
injury  of  business  in  this  region,  where  good  paper  currency 
was  scarce.  During  1S20,  1821,  and  1822,  sales  of  all  kinds  were 
made  b}^  means  of  barter.  Wolf-scalp  certificates,  called  log- 
cabin  currenc3%  were  taken  instead  of  cash.  There  was  some 
talk  of  returning  to  cut-money — dividing  silver  dollars  into 
quarters,  and  Mexican  quarters  into  three  dimes.  The  Dayton 
Bank  suspended  specie  payment  several  times  during  this  period. 

H.  G.  Phillips  was  president  of  the  Town  Council,  and  G.  S. 
Houston  recorder,  in  1S20 ;  Aaron  Baker,  Luther  Bruen,  David 
Henderson,  William  Huffman,  and  Dr.  John  Steele,  trustees.  A 
fever  prevailed  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  182 1.  There  were 
seven  hundred  cases,  and  thirteen  died.  The  population  was  one 
thousand.  This  year  the  three  ponds  southwest  of  town  were 
drained — the  "first  two  into  the  tail-race,  and  the  other  int6 
the  outlet  from  Patterson's  pond  to  the  river."  Matthew  Patton 
was  president  of  Council,  and  G.  S.  Houston  recorder,  in  182 1. 

August  21,  1822,  the  Montgomer}'  County  Bible  Society  was 
organized  at  a  meeting  of  which  Joseph  H.  Crane  was  chairman, 
and  G.  S.  Houston  secretar>^  Dr.  Job  Haines  was  elected 
president ;  William  King,  Aaron  Baker,  and  Rev.  N.  Worley, 
vice-presidents ;  Luther  Bruen,  treasurer ;  James  Steele,  corre- 
sponding secretary ;  George  S.  Houston,  recording  secretary ; 
managers,  John  INIiller,  John  H.  Williams,  John  Patterson,  David 
Reid,  James  Hanna,  O.  B.  Conover,  Daniel  Pierson,  Robert  Pat- 
terson, James  Slaght,  John  B.  Ayers,  Joseph  Kennedy,  Hezekiah 
Robinson,  and  Robert  INIcConnel.  This  year  was  also  formed  the 
Dayton  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  James  Steele  was  elected 
treasurer,  and  Job  Haines  secretary.  The  membership  fee  was 
fifty  cents  a  year,  which  could  be  paid  in  money,  clothes,  kitchen 
furniture,  or  groceries,  to  be  sent  to  the  Indians,  of  whom  a 
number  still  lived  in  Ohio. 


1816-1S35  145 

In  1820  the  Lancasterian  or  "mutual  instruction"  system  of 
education  was  exciting  great  interest.  Sharing  in  the  general 
feeling  in  favor  of  the  new  method,  the  trustees  of  the  Dayton 
Academy  determined  to  introduce  it  in  that  institution.  The 
trustees  at  that  time  were  Joseph  H.  Crane,  Aaron  Baker,  William 
M.  Smith,  George  S.  Houston,  and  David  Lindsly.  A  house 
specially  adapted  to  the  purpose  was  built  of  brick  on  the  north 
side  of  the  academy,  and  consisted  of  a  single  room  sixt3'-two 
feet  long  and  thirty-two  feet  wide.  The  floor  was  of  brick,  and 
the  house  was  heated  by  ' '  convolving  flues ' '  underneath  the 
floor.  The  walls  were  thickly  hung  with  printed  lesson-cards, 
before  which  the  classes  were  marched  to  recite  under  monitors 
selected  from  their  own  number,  as  a  reward  for  meritorious 
conduct  and  scholarship.  For  the  youngest  scholars  a  long, 
narrow  desk,  thickly  covered  with  white  sand,  was  provided,  on 
which,  with  wooden  pencils,  they  copied  and  learned  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet  from  cards  hung  up  before  them. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  rules  adopted  for  the  government 
of  the  school : 

' '  The  moral  and  literary  instruction  of  the  pupils  entered  at 
the  Dayton  Lancasterian  Academy  will  be  studiously,  diligently, 
and  temperately  attended  to. 

"They  will  be  taught  to  spell,  and  read  deliberately  and  dis- 
tinctly, agreeably  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  Walker's  Dictionary  ; 
and  in  order  to  do  that  correctly  they  will  be  made  conversant 
with  the  first  rules  of  grammar.  The  senior  class  will  be  re- 
quired to  give  a  complete  grammatical  analysis  of  the  words  as 
they  proceed. 

' '  They  will  be  required  to  write  with  freedom  all  the  different 
hands  now  in  use  on  the  latest  and  most  approved  plan  of  pro- 
portion and  distance. 

"There  will  be  no  public  examinations  at  particular  seasons, 
in  a  Lancasterian  school  everj'  day  being  an  examination  daj',  at 
which  all  who  have  leisure  are  invited  to  attend." 

In  182 1  the  trustees  adopted  the  following  resolution,  which 
would  hardly  accord  with  the  present  ideas  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  boards  of  education,  or  the  authority  of  teachers: 

"■Resolved,  That  any  scholar  attending  the  Lancasterian  School 

who  may  be  found  playing  ball  on  the  Sabbath,  or  resorting  to 

the  woods  or  commons  on  that  day  for  sport,  shall  forfeit  any 

badge  of  merit  he  may  have  obtained  and  twentj^-five  tickets ; 

10 


146  EARLY   DAYTON 

and  if  the  offense  appears  aggravated,  shall  be  further  degraded 
as  the  tutor  shall  think  proper  and  necessary  ;  and  that  this 
resolution  be  read  in  school  every  Friday  previous  to  the  dis- 
missal of  the  scholars." 

Gideon  McMillan,  who  claimed  to  be  an  expert,  having  taught 
in  a  Lancasterian  school  in  Europe,  was  appointed  the  first  prin- 
cipal. In  1822  he  was  succeeded  by  Captain  John  McMullin, 
who  came  with  high  recommendations  from  Lexington,  Virginia. 

In  1823  there  was  a  unique  Fourth-of-Juh^  celebration  under 
the  direction  of  Captain  John  McMullin,  of  the  Lancasterian 
School.  A  procession,  composed  of  the  clergy  of  the  town,  the 
trustees,  and  two  hundred  scholars,  marched  from  the  school  on 
St.  Clair  Street  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  where  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  by  Henry  Bacon,  and  a 
sermon  delivered  by  Rev.  N.  M.  Hinkle.  It  seems  that  Captain 
Mc^Iullin  had  served  as  a  soldier,  for  the  lVa^ckma?i,  in  a  notice 
of  the  celebration,  says:  "Captain  John  McMullin  appeared  as 
much  in  the  service  of  his  country  when  marching  at  the  head 
of  the  Lancasterian  School,  as  while  formerlj'  leading  his  com- 
pan 5'  in  battle." 

In  1823  Francis  Glass,  an  interesting  man  and  remarkable 
scholar,  taught  a  boys'  school  in  Dayton. 

The  Watchnia?t,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1822,  contained  the 
prospectus  of  the  Gridiron,  a  weekly  newspaper,  edited  and 
published  by  John  Anderson,  with  the  view  of  exposing  'and 
reforming  people  whose  views  of  right  and  wrong  differed  from 
his  own.  The  editor  pledged  his  honor,  liberty,  and  his  life,  if 
necessary,  to  the  success  of  the  Gridiron.  The  sheet  was  much 
dreaded  by  persons  politically  or  otherwise  obnoxious  to  the 
editor  and  contributors,  and  on  it  "evil-doers  received  a  good 
roasting."     Its  motto  was, 

'■ Burn,  roast  meat,  burn, 

Boil  with  oily  fat;  ye  spits,  forget  to  turn." 

The  subscription  price  was  one  dollar  per  year,  payable  one-half 
yearly  in  advance,  and  it  was  printed  on  what  was  described  as 
good  medium  paper,  in  octavo  form.  Thomas  Buchanan  Read, 
then  living  in  Dayton,  with  his  reputation  all  to  win,  was  one 
of  the  contributors.  A  bitter  political  contest  was  being  waged 
in  Dayton  at  this  period,  and  members  of  both  parties,  both  in 
conversation  and  print,  abused  each  other  in  a  style  that  at  the 
present  day  would  have  occasioned  trial  for  slander.    The  Grid- 


1816-1835  147 

iron  published  the  severest  and  most  unjustifiable  attacks  on  its 
opponents,  or  on  unobtrusive  citizens.  Sometimes  the  broad 
burlesque  or  caricature  of  the  articles  excites  a  smile,  but  they 
are  seldom  even  amusing.  The  writers  are  not  restrained  by 
truth,  honor,  or  good  taste,  but  indulge  in  wholesale  abuse, 
which  is  unredeemed  by  genuine  wit  or  humor.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  such  a  scurrilous  paper  had  a  short  career. 

George  B.  Holt,  better  known  now  as  Judge  Holt,  began  to 
publish  and  edit,  in  1823,  a  weekly  Democratic  paper,  called  the 
Miami  Republican  and  Dayt07i  Advertiser,  which  was  continued 
till  1826.  It  was  eleven  by  twenty-one  inches  in  size.  Judge 
Holt  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  born  in  1790,  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  Litchfield  in  1812,  and  came  to  Dayton  in  1819.  In  1828 
he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Mont- 
gomery County  by  the  Legislature,  serving  till  1836 ;  elected 
again  in  1842,  serving  till  1849.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ohio 
Legislature  in  1824  and  1827,  "and  was  conspicuously  connected 
with  some  of  the  most  important  early  legislation  of  the  State. ' ' 
In  1825  the  first  act  establishing  free  schools  was  passed  by  the 
Legislature.  Judge  Holt  was  an  earnest  and  active  advocate  of 
the  measure,  and  to  him  was  greatly  due  the  passage  of  the  act. 
In  1850  Judge  Holt,  who  "had  a  high  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and 
was  popular  among  all  classes  of  the  people,"  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  convention  called  to  adopt  a  new  constitution  for 
the  State  of  Ohio.  He  was  prominent  in  the  convention,  which 
many  of  the  most  noted  men  in  the  State  attended.  From  this 
period  till  his  death,  in  187 1,  he  took  little  part  in  political  or 
professional  life,  though  he  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Union 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  He  was  learned  in  his  profession, 
and  was  a  man  of  keen,  strong  intellect  and  literary  tastes.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Cht:rch,  and  highly  esteemed 
as  a  citizen.  He  has  three  daughters — Miss  Eliza  and  Miss 
Martha  Holt  and  Mrs.  Belle  H.  Burrowcs— and  several  grand- 
children. 

In  1826  William  Campbell,  of  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, purchased  and  consolidated  the  Dayt07i  Watchman  and  the 
Miami  Rep7iblica?i.  The  new  paper  was  published  weeklj',  and 
was  called  the  Ohio  National  Journal  and  Montgo^nery  Cojinty 
and  Dayton  Advertiser.  After  a  few  weeks  it  was  sold  to  Jephtha 
Regans,  who,  in  1827,  sold  one-half  interest  to  Peter  P.  Lowe, 
and  they  carried  it  on  together  till  1828.    It  was  Whig  in  politics, 


148  EARLY   DAYTON 

and  its  motto  was,  "Principles  and  not  men,  where  principles 
demand  the  sacrifice."  It  was  thirteen  by  twenty  inches  in 
size,  with  five  columns  to  the  page.  The  paper  was  now  called 
the  Dayton  Journal  and  Advertiser.  In  1828  J.  W.  Van  Cleve 
purchased  Mr.  Lowe's  interest.  In  1830,  Mr.  Regans  having  died, 
Mr.  Van  Cleve  entered  into  partnership  with  Richard  N.  Comly. 
In  1834  William  F.  Comly  bought  Mr.  Van  Cleve' s  share  in  the 
paper.  Its  size  was  increased  to  a  seven-column  folio,  and  it 
became  the  largest  paper  published  in  Ohio.  Any  one  examining 
the  files  of  the  Journal  of  this  date  in  the  Public  Librar}^  cannot 
but  feel  a  pride  in  the  fact  that  early  Dayton  had  a  newspaper 
of  such  excellence,  whether  as  to  print,  or  editorials  and  contribu- 
tions. The  owners'  chief  aim  was  to  publish  a  paper  of  the  high- 
est character.  R.  N.  Comly  left  Dayton  many  years  ago,  but 
William  F.  Comly  is  well  known  to  the  younger,  as  well  as  the 
older,  generation  of  citizens.  In  his  management  of  \X\^  Journal 
he  exhibited  a  breadth  of  view,  generosity,  public  spirit,  and 
thorough  disinterestedness  of  which  only  the  noblest  class  of 
men  are  capable.  The  Journal,  without  regard  to  the  popularity 
or  financial  success  of  the  editor,  advocated  every  city  reform 
and  improvement,  and  was  a  wonderful  power  for  good.  In  so 
unobtrusive  and  matter-of-course  a  way  was  Mr.  Coml3-'s  work 
for  Dayton  done  that  probably  few  are  aware  how  greatly 
indebted  the  town  is  to  him.  In  1840  the  Journal  was  changed 
to  a  daily,  then  to  a  triweekly.  Since  1847  it  has  been  published 
as  both  a  weekly  and  daily. 

February  9,  1824,  a  meeting  was  held  at  Colonel  Reid's  inn  to 
raise  mone}-  for  the  Greek  cause.  Simeon  Broadwell  was  elected 
chairman,  Dr.  Job  Haines  secretary,  and  George  S.  Houston 
treasurer.  One  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars  were  collected,  and 
William  M.  Smith,  George  W.  Smith,  and  Stephen  Fales  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  remit  the  money  to  the  Greek  Fund 
Committee  of  New  York. 

This  year  John  Compton  was  president  of  the  Town  Council, 
and  J.  W.  Van  Cleve  recorder. 

The  revenue  of  the  town  for  1825  was  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  dollars. 

In  June,  1826,  James  Perrine  was  appointed  agent  for  the  Pro- 
tection Insurance  Company  of  Hartford,  and  was  the  first  person 
engaged  in  that  business  in  Dayton.  Mr.  Perrine  was  just  begin- 
ning his  long  and  honorable  career  as  a  merchant  in  Dayton. 


liHlHHi^  111     11 


liniifr 


*  *  I,  ••      '     >• 


III 


V 


From  a  photograph  by  Appletuu. 


STEELE   HIGH   SCHOOL. 


1816-1835  149 

There  were  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  voters  in  Dayton 
Township  in  1827.  The  population  within  the  corporation  was 
one  thousand  six  hundred.  Dr.  John  Steele  was  president  of 
the  Town  Council,  and  R.  J.  Skinner  recorder.  George  B.  Holt 
was  elected  State  Senator  this  year,  and  Alexander  Grimes  and 
Robert  Skinner  Representatives. 

In  1827  the  Baptist  society,  organized  in  1824,  built,  on  the 
alley  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  between  Monument 
Avenue  and  First  Street,  its  first  church,  costing  two  thousand 
dollars. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  interesting  letter  written 
December  11,  1827,  by  a  person  living  in  Dayton  to  a  friend  in 
New  Jersey : 

"I  will  now  give  you  some  account  of  our  town.  There  are 
in  it  at  present  thirteen  dry-goods  stores,  four  public  inns,  seven- 
teen groceries,  one  wholesale  warehouse,  two  printing-offices, 
three  wagon-maker  shops,  one  carriage  shop,  four  blacksmith 
shops,  two  sickle  shops,  one  tinner  shop,  one  coppersmith  shop, 
three  hatter  shops,  seven  shoemaker  shops,  seven  tailor  shops, 
three  tanyards,  three  saddler  shops,  three  watchmaker  shops,  one 
brewery,  one  flour-mill  with  three  run  of  stone,  one  sawmill 
with  two  saws,  one  fulling-mill,  one  set  of  carding-machines, 
and  a  cotton  factory.  There  are  six  schools, — three  with  male, 
three  with  female,  teachers, — one  tallow-chandler,  and  two 
tobacconists.  We  have  a  market-house  one  hundred  feet  long, 
and  it  is  well  supplied.  There  have  been  brought  to  it  during 
the  last  summer  and  fall  twelve  to  sixteen  beeves  a  week,  and 
other  mea^-,  poultry,  and  vegetables  accordingly.  The  produc- 
tions of  the  country  are  much  greater  than  can  be  consumed. 
The  article  of  butter  is  very  great.  One  merchant  has  taken  in 
and  sent  to  foreign  markets  thirty-two  thousand  six  hundred 
pounds  within  one  year.  We  have  pork  in  the  greatest  of 
plenty.  I  was  employed  last  year  in  taking  in  pork  for  Phillips 
&  Perrine.  We  took  in  upwards  of  eighty  thousand  pounds  at 
$1.50  per  hundred.  I  started  with  it  about  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary, and  took  it  to  New  Orleans.  This  is  the  second  trip  I  have 
inade  down  the  long  and  crooked  streams  of  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi. I  shall  commence  taking  in  pork  for  Phillips  &  Perrine 
on  Monday  next,  but  I  rather  think  I  shall  not  take  it  to  New 
Orleans  for  them  this  time,  unless  they  give  me  higher  wages. 
I  went  for  them  the  other  trips  for  fifty  dollars  the  trip,  the 
distance  by  water  being  over  one  thousand  five  hundred  miles. 
I  was  gone  each  trip  nearly  ten  weeks." 

Thirty-six  brick  buildings  and  thirty-four  of  wood  were  erected 
in  town  during  1S2S.  The  population  was  one  thousand  .six 
hundred  and  ninety-seven.     Twenty  stages  arrived  weekly.    Dr. 


150  EARLY   DAYTON 

John  Steele  was  president  of  the  Town  Council,  and  John  W.  Van 
Cleve  recorder. 

A  nieeting  was  called  at  Colonel  Reid's  inn  on  the  evening  of 
June  29,  1 82 1,  to  appoint  a  committee  to  cooperate  with  com- 
mittees in  other  places  to  raise  means  to  paj'  for  a  survey  of  the 
route  for  a  canal  from  Mad  River  to  the  Ohio,  and  to  ascertain 
the  practicability  and  expense  of  such  a  canal.  Judge  Crane  was 
chairman  of  this  meeting,  and  G.  S.  Houston  secretary.  The 
following  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  collect  funds  to  pay  for 
the  survey:  H.  G.  Phillips,  G.  W.  Smith,  Dr.  John  Steele, 
Alexander  Grimes,  and  J.  H.  Crane.  The  law  authorizing  the 
making  of  a  canal  from  Dayton  to  Cincinnati  passed  the  Legis- 
lature in  1825. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1825,  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  of  New 
York,  assisted  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Ohio  Canal  at  Newark. 
At  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Dayton,  James  Steele  and 
Henr}-  Bacon  were  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  on  the  Gover- 
nor at  Newark  and  invite  him  to  partake  of  a  public  dinner  in 
their  town.  Resolutions  were  also  adopted  and  preparations 
made  for  his  reception.  Mr.  Steele  returned  from  Newark  on  the 
evening  of  Wednesday,  the  6th,  and  reported  that  the  Governor 
had  accepted  and  would  be  here  on  Saturda}-.  A  number  of 
gentlemen  of  Daj'ton  and  a  detachment  of  the  troop  of  horse 
commanded  b}^  Captain  Squier  met  the  Governor  at  Fairfield 
and  escorted  him  to  town.  At  2  :  30  p.m.  Governor  Clinton  and 
his  suite,  INIessrs.  Jones  and  Reed,  Governor  Morrow,  Hon.  Ethan 
A.  Brown,  Hon.  Joseph  Vance,  Messrs.  Tappan  and  Williams, 
canal  commissioners,  and  Judge  Bates,  civil  engineer,  arrived  at 
Compton's  Tavern,  on  the  corner  of  IMain  and  Second  streets, 
where  they  were  received  by  the  citizens.  Judge  Crane  made 
an  address  of  welcome,  which  was  responded  to  by  Governor 
,Clinton.  About  four  o'clock  the  guests  and  citizens  sat  down  to 
an  elegant  dinner  prepared  for  the  occasion  at  Reid's  Inn.  Judge 
Crane  presided,  and  Judge  Steele  and  Colonel  Patterson  acted  as 
vice-presidents.  The  dinner  closed  with  appropriate  toasts.  In 
the  evening  Judge  Steele  gave  a  reception  to  Governor  Clinton 
at  his  residence,  on  the  site  of  Music  Hall.  The  house,  which 
stood  far  back  from  Main  Street,  as  well  as  the  j^ard,  was  bril- 
liantly illuminated.  Governor  Clinton  addressed  the  people 
from  the  porch  which  ran  along  the  Main  Street  side  of  the 
house.     On  account  of  his  advocacy  of  canals.  Governor  Clinton 


1816-1835  151 

had  long  been  popular  in  Ohio,  and  many  boys  were  named  for 
him.  His  Dayton  namesakes  were  presented  to  him  at  the 
reception,  and  to  each  of  them  he  gave  a  silver  dollar.  Some 
of  the  recipients  of  these  gifts  preserved  them  as  souvenirs  as 
long  as  they  lived,  though  a  silver  dollar  must  have  burned  the 
pocket  of  a  boy  of  that  period,  with  whom  a  coin  or  money  of 
any  kind  or  amount  was  a  rare  possession. 

It  was  suggested  in  October,  1825,  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan 
to  run  the  canal,  which  need  not  be  wider  than  forty  feet,  down 
the  middle  of  Main  Street,  reducing  the  sidewalks  to  twelve 
feet,  leaving  a  roadway  thirty-four  feet  wide  on  either  side  of  the 
water,  and  rendering  Main  the  handsomest  street  in  Ohio.  This 
proposed  course  of  the  canal  was  for  a  few  days  marked  out  by 
a  line  of  red  flags  the  length  of  the  street.  It  was  feared  that  the 
canal  would  be  located  a  mile  from  the  Court-house,  which  would 
seriously  injure  the  town;  and  it  was  a  great  relief  to  citizens 
when  the  commissioners  located  it  "on  the  common  between  the 
sawmill  race  and  the  seminary,  on  St.  Clair  Street."  The  con- 
struction of  the  canal  was  at  first  ' '  violently  opposed  as  a  ruinous 
and  useless  expenditure"  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  law  authorizing 
the  expenditure  was  passed,  "and  before  the  canal  was  located, 
the  rapid  improvement  of  Dayton  and  the  increase  in  population 
proved  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  those  who,  since  1818,  had 
been  agitating  the  subject  of  canal  improvements  in  the  INIiami 
Valley.  One  of  the  objections  against  the  canal  urged  by  oppo- 
nents of  the  project  was  that  it  could  not  be  made  to  hold  water. 
As  the  bed  of  the  canal  ran  through  loose  gravel,  there  seemed 
to  be  force  in  the  objection,  and,  indeed,  some  difficult}'  of  this 
kind  was  experienced.  The  bottom  of  the  canal,  however,  soon 
"puddled,"  and  became  water-tight. 

The  first  canal-boat  built  in  Dayton  was  launched  near  Fifth 
Street  on  Saturday,  August  16,  1828,  at  2  p.m.  The  citizens  were 
invited  to  assemble  at  the  firing  of  the  cannon  to  witness  the 
launch.  The  I  oat  was  called  the  Alpha,  of  Dayton,  and  was 
built  for  McMaken  &  Hilton  by  Solomon  Eversull.  The  Alpha 
was  pronounced  by  mau}^  superior  to  any  boat  on  the  line  of  the 
Miami  Canal.  As  the  water  had  not  yet  been  let  into  the  canal, 
a  temporary  dam  was  built  across  the  canal  at  the  bluffs,  and 
water  was  turned  in  from  the  sawmill  tail-race  at  Fifth  Street, 
Trial  trips  were  then  made  from  the  dam  to  Fifth  Street  and 
back.    The  Dayton  Guards,  a  military  company  of  boys  organ- 


152  EARLY   DAYTON 

ized  a  few  weeks  before,  made  the  first  trip  on  the  Alpha. 
Friday  evening,  September  26,  182S,  water  was  first  let  into  the 
canal  by  the  contractors  from  the  mill-race  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
and  Wyandotte  streets.  In  January,  1829,  citizens  of  Dayton 
were  gratified  with  the  sight  so  long  desired  of  the  arrival  of 
canal-boats  from  Cincinnati.  Four  arrived  during  the  day,  each 
welcomed  by  the  firing  of  a  cannon  and  enthusiastic  cheers  from 
the  crowd  assembled  on  the  margin  of  the  basin. 

The  people  made  a  festival  of  the  completion  of  the  canal, 
which,  they  congratulated  themselves,  had  begun  a  new  era  of 
prosperit3^  for  the  town,  and  took  every  opportunity  to  celebrate 
the  event.  There  were  several  excursions,  and  on  the  evening 
of  Februar}'  5,  1829,  the  canal  being  frozen  over  so  that  naviga- 
tion was  impossible,  Captain  Archibald,  of  the  Governor  Brown, 
which  was  embargoed  by  the  ice  at  the  basin,  gave  a  handsome 
collation  on  board  to  a  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen.  The 
next  evening  the  captains  of  a  number  of  boats  lying  in  the 
basin  partook  of  a  canal  supper  at  the  National  Hotel,  and  drank 
a  number  of  toasts  suitable  to  the  occasion.  On  the  i6th  of 
April  a  steam  canal-boat,  called  the  Enterprise,  arrived  here. 
Two  cords  of  wood  were  used  in  the  passage  from  Cincinnati  to 
Dayton.  For  many  j^ears  it  was  believed  that  steam  could  be  used 
in  propelling  boats  on  the  canal,  but  after  a  fair  trial  it  was  found 
to  be  impracticable.  Twenty  hours  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton 
by  canal  was  considered  a  rapid  trip.  INIerchandise  was  brought 
here  from  New  York  by  water  in  twenty  days. 

The  completion  of  the  State  canal,  which  ended  at  Second 
Street,  was  soon  followed  by  the  construction  of  a  new  basin, 
beginning  at  the  terminus  of  the  original  one  and  extending  to 
First  Street.  It  was  constructed  by  the  Basin  Extension  Com- 
pany, formed  by  H.  G.  Phillips  and  James  Steele,  executors  of 
the  Cooper  estate,  in  1830.  Its  object  was  to  draw  business  to 
the  part  of  town  through  which  it  passed.  This  new  basin  ran 
down  the  ravine,  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  deep,  which  extended  from 
the  head  of  Mill  Street  to  the  corner  of  Piatt  and  Harris,  thence  to 
the  corner  of  Second  and  St.  Clair,  and  down  St.  Clair  to  Fifth. 
"  Through  this  ravine  the  waters  of  Mad  River,  breaking  through 
the  culvert  in  the  levee  near  its  mouth  in  spite  of  the  exertions 
of  men  working  night  and  day  to  prevent  it,  sought,  at  almost 
every  flood,  a  channel  through  which  to  discharge  themselves 
into  the  Miami  below  town. 


1816-1835  153 

Until  the  extension  of  the  Miami  Canal  to  the  north  in  184 1, 
Dayton  was  at  the  head  of  navigation,  and  supplies  of  every 
kind  for  this  region  for  a  long  distance  around  were  forwarded 
from  here.  A  brisk  trade  with  Fort  Wayne  as  a  distributing 
point  was  kept  up,  and  wagon-trains  were  constantly  passing 
between  the  two  points.  Swaynie's  Tavern,  at  the  head  of  the 
basin,  was  the  favorite  resort  of  the  wagoners,  and  his  large 
stable-yard  was  nightly  crowded  with  wagons,  and  his  tavern 
with  the  drivers. 

In  January,  1829,  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
brick  buildings  in  Dayton,  six  of  stone,  and  two  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  of  wood.  There  were  two  hundred  and  thirty-five 
dwelling-houses,  and  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  and  Christian 
brick  meeting-houses.  This  year  Timothy  Squier  opened  the 
National  Hotel  in  the  building  on  Third  Street  adjoining  the 
Beckel  House.  The  white  population  of  Dayton  in  1829  was 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  ;  blacks,  eight3'-six. 
There  had  been  an  increase  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-one  in  the 
population  during  the  past  fourteen  months.  The  amount  of 
merchants'  capital  returned  by  the  assessor  of  Montgomery 
County  for  1829  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eleven  dollars.  Under  a  new  law  passed  by 
the  lyegislature,  the  free  white  male  freeholders  over  the  age  of 
twenty-one  who  resided  in  the  corporation  one  year  voted  for  a 
mayor  instead  of  a  president  of  Council,  and  one  recorder  and 
five  trustees.  John  Folkerth  was  elected  Mayor,  David  Winters 
recorder,  and  Nathaniel  Wilson,  James  Haight,  John  Rench, 
Luther  Bruen,  and  William  Atkins,  trustees.  An  ordinance 
was  passed  by  Council  dividing  the  town  into  five  wards.  The 
improvements  of  the  town  were  nearly  all  confined  to  the  tract 
bounded  by  the  river  on  the  north  and  west,  ]\Iill  and  Canal 
streets  on  the  east,  and  Sixth  Street  on  the  south. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  1829  the  first  Dayton  Temperance  Society 
was  formed.  William  King  was  moderator  and  Dr.  Haines 
secretary  of  the  meeting.  The  following  persons  were  appointed 
to  prepare  a  constitution  and  an  address  to  the  public  :  A.  Baker, 
Daniel  Ashton,  D.  Winters,  D.  L.  Burnet,  John  Steele,  Job 
Haines,  H.  Jewett,  William  M.  Smith,  and  Henry  Bacon.  For 
some  time  the  Dayton  newspapers  were  full  of  arguments  for 
and  against  temperance  societies. 

On  July  z"],  1829,  it  was  decided  that  the  new  market-house. 


154  EARLY   DAYTON 

which  the  city  was  about  to  build,  should  be  located  in  the  alley 
running  from  Jefferson  Street  to  Main,  between  Third  and  Fourth 
streets.  For  the  purpose  of  widening  the  market-space,  property 
costing  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  was 
purchased  by  Council.  A  small  building  was  put  up  on  Main 
Street,  which  was  extended  to  Jefferson  Street  in  1836.  All  the 
space  east  of  the  market-house  of  1829  to  Jefferson  Street  was 
given  up  to  market-wagons.  The  old  market-house  on  Second 
Street  was  abandoned  April  24,  1830.  A  bitter  rivalry  existed 
between  the  parts  of  the  town  divided  by  Third  Street.  People 
living  north  of  Third  Street  appropriated  the  name  of  "Dayton" 
to  themselves,  and  in  derision  called  that  part  of  the  town  lying 
south  of  that  street  "Cabintown."  When  it  was  proposed  to 
remove  the  market  from  Second  Street  to  the  present  location, 
violent  opposition  was  made,  and  every  measure  resorted  to  to 
defeat  it.  Two  tickets  were  nominated  for  city  officers,  politics 
were  forgotten,  and  this  was  made  the  sole  issue.  Cabintown 
proved  numerically  the  stronger,  and  the  fate  of  the  market- 
house  was  sealed.  When  the  market-house  was  moved,  Thomas 
Morrison,  who  had  it  in  charge,  placed  a  large  placard  on  it, 
"Bound  for  Cabintown,"  which  was  read  with  the  deepest 
chagrin  by  the  people  on  Market  [now  Second]  Street.  So 
bitter  was  the  feeling  that  for  a  long  time  many  persons  refused 
to  attend  market  at  the  new  location. 

Numerous  advertisements  of  schools  taught  in  Dayton  appear 
in  the  newspapers  between  1829  and  1834.  In  1829  Edmund 
Harrison,  a  competent  and  successful  teacher,  taught  what  he 
called  an  "Inductive  Academy"  in  a  building  which  he  erected 
for  the  purpose.  He  was  followed  by  Ira  Fenn.  In  1832  an 
accomplished  woman.  Miss  Maria  Harrison,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Harrison,  taught  a  school  for  young  ladies.  In  183 1  J.  J.  S. 
Smith,  afterwards  an  eminent  member  of  the  Dayton  bar, — 
father  of  S.  B.  and  J.  McLain  Smith,— taught  a  school  in  the 
stone  building  on  Main  Street  next  to  the  High  School.  To 
illustrate  how  new  ideas  penetrated  the  West,  it  may  be  stated 
that  Dr.  and  ISIrs.  Foster,  in  1829,  advertised  a  school  to  be  con- 
ducted on  the  method  of  Pestalozzi. 

Advertisements  of  singing-schools  and  writing-schools  appear 
frequently.  The  flaming  advertisement  of  D.  Easton,  teacher  of 
penmanship,  recalls  the  day  before  the  invention  of  steel  pens, 
when  no  small  part  of  the  time  of  the  teacher  was  spent  in 


1816-1835  155 

making  and  mending  quill  pens.  He  offers  to  teach  "the  round 
running  hand,  the  ornamental  Italian  hand,  the  waving  hand, 
the  swift,  angular  running  hand  without  ruling,  and  various 
others,  both  plain  and  ornamental." 

In  1833  David  Pruden  invited  Milo  G.  Williams  to  come  to 
Dayton  to  take  charge  of  a  manual-labor  school  to  be  established 
in  a  large  brick  building  owned  by  him  at  the  junction  of  Jeffer- 
son and  Warren  streets.  Shops  were  erected  for  instruction  in 
various  mechanical  trades.  Mr.  Williams  was  to  conduct  the 
academic,  and  Mr.  Pruden  the  labor  and  boarding,  department. 
A  large  number  of  boys  from  Cincinnati  and  other  places  were 
attracted  to  the  school  by  Mr.  Williams's  reputation  as  a  teacher, 
and  the  school  for  a  time  enjoyed  great  popularity.  Both  the 
principals  were  actuated  by  philanthropic  motives  in  their 
attempt  to  combine  intellectual  culture  with  preparation  for 
the  practical  duties  of  life ;  but  they  were  at  least  fifty  years 
ahead  of  their  times,  and  the  school  was  closed  from  lack  of 
pecuniary  success. 

In  1830  a  company  was  formed  to  construct  a  basin  connecting 
the  canal  at  its  intersection  with  Wayne  Street  and  a  point  at  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  city.  Morris  Seely  was  the  main 
mover  in  this  project,  and  great  expectations  were  entertained  in 
regard  to  it.  The  Supreme  Court  had  decided  that  the  water- 
power  within  the  city  limits,  and  furnished  by  the  canal,  belonged 
to  the  State  of  Ohio,  a  decision  which  was  afterwards  reversed, 
and  the  water-power  given  to  the  Cooper  estate.-  It  was  believed 
that  this  water-power  could  be  leased  and  utilized  along  the  pro- 
posed basin.  Land  was  bought  at  what  was  then  an  extravagant 
price,  and  lots  laid  out.  These  lots  were  small  in  size,  and 
arranged  for  factories,  warehouses,  and  docks,  such  as  would  be 
required  in  a  large  city,  but  were  unsuited  to  a  place  with  the 
pretensions  of  Dayton.  The  scheme  proved  an  utter  failure,  and 
left  consequences  that  were  an  annoyance  to  the  city  for  years 
afterwards.  The  lots  were  unsalable,  and  the  method  of  platting 
a  serious  detriment  to  that  part  of  the  town.  The  canal,  or 
ditch,  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  bred  disease,  and  the  city 
authorities  were  called  upon  to  fill  it  up.  Before  the  controversy 
was  finally  settled,  the  excitement  ran  so  high  that  the  sawmill 
of  Mr.  E.  Thresher,  located  on  the  canal  at  Wayne  Street,  which 
used  the  ditch  as  a  tail-race,  was  burned.  A  large  part  of  the 
ditch  is  now  filled  up,  and  the  lower  end  used  as  a  city  drain.    In 


156  EARLY    DAYTON 

connection  with  the  basin  and  on  its  bank  a  pleasure-garden  was 
opened  by  A.  M.  Peasley  on  Warren  Street.  A  small  pleasure- 
boat  was  run  from  Third  Street  on  summer  afternoons  to  the 
garden,  where  refreshments  were  provided,  and  it  was  expected 
that  large  numbers  of  pleasure-seekers  would  resort  there.  Like 
the  basin,  the  garden  was  ahead  of  the  times,  and  after  trial  of 
two  or  three  years  was  abandoned. 

In  1830  Stevenson  ran  the  first  locomotive  in  England  over  the 
Manchester  &  Liverpool  Railroad.  The  same  year  a  miniature 
locomotive  and  cars  were  exhibited  in  Dayton  in  the  Methodist 
church.  The  fact  that  the  City  Council  by  resolution  exempted 
the  exhibition  from  a  license  fee,  and  that  the  Methodist  church 
was  used  for  this  purpose,  illustrates  the  deep  interest  felt  b}'  the 
public  in  the  new  and  almost  untried  scheme  to  transport  freight 
and  passengers  by  steam  over  roads  constructed  for  the  purpose. 
A  track  was  run  around  the  interior  of  the  church,  and  for  a 
small  fee  parties  were  carried  in  the  car.  A  large  part  of  the 
then  citizens  of  Dayton  took  their  first  railroad  ride  in  this  way. 

The  population  of  Dayton  in  1S30  was  two  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  fifty-four,  a  gain  of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  in  little  more  than  two  years.  This  year  eighty-one 
houses  were  built.  In  1831  fifty  brick  and  seventy -two  frame 
buildings  were  erected.  The  population  was  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty-eight.  Six  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine- 
teen passengers  by  coach  passed  through  town  this  year. 

In  November  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Seneca  Indians,  men, 
women,  and  children,  on  their  way  to  the  reservation  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  encamped  at  the  big  spring  on  the  north  side 
of  Mad  River.  They  were  here  three  days,  and  excited  great 
curiosity  by  their  singular,  rude,  and  uncivilized  habits  and  ap- 
pearance. One  of  the  gaping  crowd,  who  was  watching  them  at 
dinner,  moved  off  in  some  confusion  when  an  Indian,  at  whom 
he  was  staring,  looked  up  and  said,  "  Indian  eats  just  like  white 
man;  he  puts  the  victuals  in  his  mouth."  At  this  period  no 
houses  had  been  erected  on  the  northwest  corner  of  First  and  Jef- 
ferson streets,  and  the  lots  were  used  for  shows.  The  Indians 
took  great  pleasure  in  riding  on  a  merry-go-round,  which  was  a 
feature  of  the  show  of  183 1.  One  afternoon  a  crowd  of  them,  all 
intoxicated,  came  whooping  down  First  Street.  Not  satisfied 
with  riding,  they  proceeded  to  break  the  merry-go-round  and 
fight  the  owner  and  his  customers.     Nothing  could  be  done  with 


1816-1835  157 

them  till  the  agent  who  had  command  of  them  arrived,  armed 
with  a  club,  which  he  used  freely.  Their  submission  was  so  sud- 
den and  entire  as  to  be  laughable.  They  feared  the  United  States 
Government,  which  the  agent  represented,  and  fled  before  its 
representative  like  sheep  to  their  camp  across  Mad  River. 

The  first  Dayton  public  school  was  opened  Decembers,  1831, 
by  Sylvanus  Hall,  "approved  teacher,"  in  the  school-room  on 
Jefierson  Street  between  Water  and  First  streets.  Public  monej- 
was  appropriated  to  support  it,  but  the  amount  not  being  suffi- 
cient,, each  pupil  paid  a  dollar  per  quarter  for  tuition.  Three 
additional  rooms  were  soon  afterwards  opened  in  different  parts 
of  the  town  for  the  convenience  of  scholars. 

School-directors  seem  at  first  to  have  been  appointed  at  public 
meetings  of  citizens.  The  following  served  during  this  period  : 
Luther  Bruen,  Nathaniel  Wilson,  Henr>'  Van  Tuyl,  Thomas 
Brown,  William  Hart,  James  Slaght,  J.  H.  Mitchell,  David 
Osborn,  Ralph  P,  Lowe,  Simon  Snyder,  and  William  H.  Brown. 
The  cit}'  charter  of  1841  provided  for  the  appointment  by  Council 
of  a  school-manager  from  each  ward,  and  Council  and  this  board 
worked  together  harmoniouslj'  for  years.  The  tax  levy  for  school 
purposes  was  so  small  that  frequently  the  schools  could  only  be 
kept  open  a  few  months.  The  teachers  taught  private  schools  in 
the  houses  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

Just  below  the  mouth  of  Stillwater  the  Miami  makes  a  bend 
in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  inclosing  in  it  that  part  of  Dayton 
known  as  Riverdale.  By  cutting  a  race  across  the  bend,  a  val- 
uable water-power  is  obtained.  About  1829  James  Steele,  who 
owned  the  land,  completed  a  dam  across  the  INIiami  and  the  race. 
In  1831  he  erected  a  sawmill  and  afterward  a  grist-mill.  This 
water-power  is  now  known  as  the  Da3'ton  View  H3-draulic.  In 
digging  the  race  an  immense  tooth  of  a  mastodon  was  unearthed, 
which  was  deposited  as  a  curiosity  in  the  Cincinnati  Museum. 
As  no  other  part  of  the  skeleton  was  found  in  the  vicinit\',  it  is 
supposed  that  the  tooth  was  brought  with  the  drift  from  some 
other  region. 

General  Robert  C.  Schenck  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Day- 
ton in  1831.  He  was  a  public-spirited  citizen,  taking  an  active 
interest  in  all  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  town,  and  im- 
pressing himself  upon  this  community  long  before  he  attained  a 
national  reputation.  He  devoted  much  time  and  labor  to  the 
Daj'ton  L3'ceum,  Mechanics'  Institute,  Public  Librar}-,  Woodland 


158  EARLY    DAYTON 

Ccmeter}',  cit}-  park,  the  h3'draulic,  turnpikes,  railroads,  and 
public  schools,  and  frequently  gave  gratuitous  lectures  at  the  in- 
vitation of  his  townsmen. 

This  year  the  rivers  were  verj'  high  at  Dayton,  and  there  was 
much  destruction  of  propert}'  and  great  distress  caused  by  the 
unprecedented  height  of  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati.  As  soon  as  the 
news  reached  here  that  the  homes  of  many  poor  people  at  Cincin- 
nati had  been  washed  away,  a  call  for  a  meeting  at  the  Court- 
house to  raise  funds  for  the  flood-sufFerers  was  published  in  the 
Daji;on  newspapers.  At  the  meeting  two  hundred  and  two  dol- 
lars were  raised  b}'  subscription  and  sent  by  John  W.  Van  Cleve, 
Mayor  of  Dayton,  to  the  Maj-or  of  Cincinnati,  "to  aid  in 
relieving  the  distressed  people  of  that  cit}'." 

At  no  time  in  the  historj'  of  Dayton,  except  during  the  Civil 
War,  has  there  been  as  exciting  a  political  campaign  as  that  of 
1832,  preceding  the  second  election  of  General  Jackson  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  So  bitter  was  the  feeling  on  both 
sides  in  this  contest  that  Whigs  and  Democrats,  though  neigh- 
bors and  old  friends,  ceased  speaking  to  each  other  on  the 
streets.  Previous  to  Madison's  administration  the  people  of 
Dayton  seem  to  have  been  nearly  all  of  one  mind  on  the  subject 
of  politics,  or  at  any  rate  not  intense  partisans ;  but  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  after  that  date  an  election  rarely  passed  without 
several  fights  between  the  members  of  the  two  parties — usually 
on  the  corner  of  INIain  and  Third  streets,  for  the  Court-house  was 
the  polling-place  for  the  whole  township,  in  which  the  territory 
now  assigned  to  Harrison,  Mad  River,  and  Van  Buren  townships 
was  then  included.  Late  on  the  night  before  the  Presidential 
election  in  1832,  a  tall  hickory  pole  was  erected  on  the  outer  edge 
of  the  pavement  in  front  of  the  Court-house,  and  from  it  floated 
the  American  flag.  Great  was  the  surprise  and  indignation  of 
the  Whigs  when  this  pole  greeted  their  eyes  the  next  morning, 
and  great  the  triumph  of  the  party  which  had  erected  it.  Crowds 
of  Whigs  gathered  on  the  corners,  muttering  angry  impreca- 
tions. It  was  evident  that  they  would  not  permit  the  hickory 
tree  to  remain  standing  at  the  polls,  and  as  certain  that  the 
Democrats  would  violently  resist  any  efibrt  which  the  other 
party  might  make  to  remove  it,  and  that  a  pitched  battle  would 
ensue  if  the  authorities  did  not  interfere.  A  meeting  of  Council 
was  held  early  in  the  morning,  and  presently  those  of  the  citizens 
who  had  not  gone  home  to  breakfast  saw  the  Council,  headed 


1S16-1835  159 

by  the  marshal,  John  Dodson,  followed  by  John  W.  Van  Cleve, 
the  gigantic  Mayor,  ax  in  hand,  and  Dr.  John  Steele  and 
F.  F.  Carrell,  march  to  the  hickory  tree  and  form  a  circle  around 
it.  The  Mayor  notified  the  marshal  of  the  order  of  Council  just 
passed  to  "cut  down  the  pole  and  drag  it  out  as  a  nuisance." 
It  was  the  duty  of  the  marshal  to  perform  this  perilous  act. 

An  account  of  this  occurrence  published  in  the  Journal  in  1889 
called  out  two  communications  on  the  subject  from  eye-witnesses. 
One  of  them  says  :  "In  the  face  and  in  defiance  of  an  outraged 
and  infuriated  collection  (not  mob)  of  red-hot  Jackson  Demo- 
crats—  and  what  that  meant  could  hardly  be  appreciated  by 
one  of  this  cold-blooded,  law-abiding  generation' — 'the  worthy 
marshal  hesitated,  as  well  he  might.  A  man  of  lofty  mien  and 
determined  purpose  in  every  movement  stepped  to  the  front, 
seized  the  ax,  and,  wielding  it  as  only  a  stalwart  Kentuckian 
could  wield  it,  with  a  few  well-served  strokes  brought  the  offen- 
sive emblem  to  the  ground.  When  it  fell,  there  was  a  pause  ;  not 
a  cheer  was  heard  from  the  Whigs,  and  only  muttered  curses 
from  the  Democrats.  The  audacity  of  this  brave  act  of  Dr.  John 
Steele,  a  man  universally  known  and  respected,  no  doubt  pre- 
vented a  bloody  riot."  Another  correspondent  states  that  the 
pole  was  cut  down  by  Herbert  S.  Williams.  Probably  both 
accounts  were  correct,  as  from  the  size  of  the  pole  it  would 
require  a  good  many  strokes  of  the  ax  to  fell  it,  and  more  than 
one  hand  may  have  been  employed  on  it. 

A  canal-boat  arrived  in  Dayton  December  17,  1832,  with 
twenty-five  German  emigrants  on  board,  all  of  whom  were  ill 
with  cholera,  or  something  similar  to  it.  One  of  them  had  died 
the  day  before  the  boat  reached  here.  They  all  crowded  into  a 
small  room  together  when  they  landed.  Seven  of  the  Germans 
and  the  two  nurses  employed  by  the  town  died.  A  board  of 
health  had  been  appointed  by  Council  in  the  summer,  so  that  all 
sanitary  precautions  were  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  dis- 
ease, which  was  prevailing  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 
The  Board  of  H  .alth  consisted  of  a  member  of  Council  and  two 
other  citizens  from  each  ward.  The  following  persons  were 
appointed :  First  Ward,  Aaron  Baker  and  George  C.  Davis  ; 
Second  Ward,  James  Steele  and  William  Bomberger ;  Third  Ward, 
H.  G.  Phillips  and  Stephen  Whicher  ;  Fourth  Ward,  Dr.  Haines 
and  E.  W.  Davies  ;  Fifth  Ward,  James  Mitchell  and  William  Pat- 
terson.    There  were  thirty-three  deaths  here  from  cholera  in  1833. 


l6o  EARLY    DAYTON 

During  1832  fifty-one  brick  and  sixty-two  wooden  houses  were 
erected.  A  silk  manufactory  was  established  in  town  this  year 
by  Daniel  Rowe.  He  made  sewing-silk  and  the  warp  for  coarse 
stuffs.  Some  handkerchiefs  were  also  manufactured.  He  adver- 
tises in  June  that  he  has  two  thousand  Italian  mulberry  trees 
ready  to  pluck,  and  will  furnish  leaves,  silkworm  eggs,  and  frames 
for  those  willing  to  raise  cocodns  for  him  on  vShares.  He  also 
offers  to  pay  the  highest  price  for  cocoons  delivered  at  the  store 
of  Swain  &  Demarest,  and  hopes  by  the  next  year  to  take  all 
that  the  neighborhood  could  produce.  A  number  of  persons 
planted  mulberry  trees  at  this  time,  and  expected  to  engage  in 
raising  silkworms.  But  the  factory  was  not  a  success.  A  silk 
company,  with  a  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  was 
formed  in  1839,  but  also  failed. 

In  1832  the  Daj'ton  Lyceum  was  established,  the  object  of  which 
was  ' '  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  promotion  of  sociability . ' ' 
Meetings  were  to  be  held  once  a  week  ' '  for  lectures,  communica- 
tions, essays,  and  discussions  of  all  subjects  except  theology  and 
the  politics  of  the  day . ' '  It  was  also  proposed  to  collect  a  cabinet 
of  antiquities  and  minerals,  and  a  library.  A  discourse  was  to 
be  delivered  "  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society  on  the  27th  of 
August,  being  the  anniversary  of  the  location  of  the  town  of 
Dayton."  For  several  winters  the  lyyceum  furnished  courses 
of  lectures  and  debates,  which  were  of  the  highest  interest  and 
afforded  great  enjoyment  to  the  people  of  Dayton.  In  1833  the 
library  of  the  Lyceum  was  kept  at  the  house  of  Ira  Fenn. 

In  1833  the  Mechanics'  Institute  was  organized.  The  first 
secretary  was  Henry  L.  Brown,  one  of  the  best  and  most  useful 
men  who  ever  lived  in  Dayton.  The  object  of  the  institute  was 
"moral,  literary,  and  scientific  improvement."  A  library  and 
reading-rooms  were  connected  with  it,  and  for  many  years  a 
course  of  lectures  was  given  each  winter.  A  public  address  was 
delivered  at  the  Court-house  July  i,  1833,  by  Robert  C.  Schenck, 
in  behalf  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  and  during  its  existence 
every  citizen  of  Da3'ton  who  had  any  ability  for  lecturing  was 
called  upon  for  that  service. 

At  this  period  there  must  have  been  unusual  literary  interest 
and  activity  in  Dayton,  for  there  were  no  less  than  six  public 
libraries  in  existence,  as  we  learn  from  notices  in  the  newspapers. 
None  of  them  were  large,  but  in  the  aggregate  they  reached  a 
wide  circle  of  readers. 


1816-1835  i6i 

Charles  Soule,  afterwards  a  noted  portrait  painter,  opened  a 
store  for  the  sale  of  engravings  and  for  framing  pictures  in  1833. 
He  also  carried  on  ' '  his  old  business  of  sign  and  ornamental 
painting"  at  his  shop. 

The  second  election  of  General  Jackson  to  the  Presidency  was 
celebrated  in  Dayton  on  the  8th  of  January,  1833,  by  a  barbecue 
on  the  common  west  of  the  basin,  now  Cooper  Park.  National 
salutes  were  fired  during  the  day.  Immediately  on  the  arrival 
at  noon  of  a  canal-boat  with  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  citizens 
of  iNIiamisburg,  "  a  hickory  tree  bearing  the  American  flag,  still 
larger  and  more  majestic  than  that  which  on  a  previous  occasion 
left  a  stump"  (an  evident  allusion  to  the  cutting  down  of  the 
Jackson  pole  in  1832),  was  erected.  A  large  number  of  people 
from  this  and  adjacent  counties  were  present  on  this  occasion. 
After  the  erection  of  the  pole  a  procession  was  formed,  in  front 
of  which  walked  four  Revolutionary  soldiers  bearing  liberty-caps 
and  two  members  of  the  Dayton  Hickory  Club  carrying  an 
appropriate  banner,  who  were  followed  b}'  another  soldier  bear- 
ing the  American  flag.  After  moving  through  the  principal 
streets,  the  procession  passed  into  the  Court-house,  where  an 
address  was  made  and  resolutions  were  adopted.  From  the  Court- 
house they  proceeded  to  the  common,  where  an  ox  was  roasted 
whole,  of  which  and  other  refreshments  all  were  indiscriminately 
invited  to  partake.  The  barbecue  was  followed  b}'  some  "spirited 
sentiments,"  after  which  the  procession  reformed  and  marched 
to  the  center  of  town,  where  it  dispersed.  A  barbecue  was 
usually  an  uninviting  feast.  The  oviter  part  of  the  ox  was 
smoked  and  scorched,  and  the  remainder  uncooked,  though  the 
animal  was  always  roasted  for  many  hours.  After  the  feast 
the  almost  untouched  carcass  was  hauled  off  by  horses,  sur- 
rounded b}'  a  crowd  of  boys  and  dogs,  to  be  disposed  of  by  hogs 
and  hounds. 

There  were  one  thousand  and  one  buildings  in  Dayton  in  1833. 
The  population  was  four  thousand.  January  3,  1834,  an  ordi- 
nance was  passed  by  Council  for  the  appointment  of  one  or  more 
watchmen.  They  were  to  wear  uniform  badges  and  have  the 
same  power  to  call  on  persons  to  assist  them  in  arresting  of- 
fenders as  the  marshal  had.  The  marshal  and  these  watchmen 
constituted  the  police  of  Dayton. 

Plans  for  a  covered  wooden  bridge  over  the  Miami  River  on 
Main  Street  were  advertised  for  on  the  28th  of  Januar}^  1834. 


l62  EARLY   DAYTON 

The  county  commissioners,  on  June  4,  1835,  appropriated  six 
hundred  dollars  toward  the  building-fund,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  money  was  raised  by  subscription.  The  bridge  was  opened 
for  travel  in  1836. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Lafayette  was  received  in  1834,  and 
commemorative  services  were  held  on  the  31st  of  August.  A 
procession,  composed  of  the  mechanics  of  the  town,  carrying 
handsome  banners  draped  in  black,  and  representing  their  differ- 
ent occupations,  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  and  the  Order  of  Inde- 
pendent Odd  Fellows,  formed  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  marched 
to  the  Presbyterian  church.  The  exercises  were  opened  with  an 
impressive  prayer  by  Rev.  E.  Allen,  after  which  a  beautiful  and 
feeling  ode,  written  for  the  occasion  bj^  a  young  lady  of  Dayton, 
was  sung  by  the  choir.  Robert  A.  Thruston  delivered  "an 
impassioned  and  eloquent  delineation  of  the  talents  of  the  deceased 
patriot."  Then  an  ode,  written  for  a  similar  occasion  in  Cin- 
cinnati by  James  Hall,  was  sung  by  the  choir.  Solemn  music 
by  the  Cincinnati  band  accompanied  the  exercises,  which  closed 
with  a  prayer  and  benediction  by  Rev.  David  Winters.  The 
committee  of"  arrangements  on  this  occasion  was  composed  of 
the  following  gentlemen :  Thomas  Clegg,  George  Owen,  W.  L. 
Helfenstein,  E.  W.  Davies,  Peter  Odlin,  John  Steele,  E.  Brown- 
ing, R.  A.  Thruston,  E.  Brabham,  James  Brown,  Robert  C. 
Schenck,  John  Anderson,  Peter  Baer,  and  C.  G.  Swain. 


CHAPTER  IX 

1836-1840 

Measures  Proposed  for  Improving  the  Town  in  1836— Proceedings  of  Coun- 
cil—Public  Meeting  to  Sustain  Council— Cooper  Park — Dayton  Business 
Men  in  1836  — Educational  Convention  in  1836— Shinplasters — Thomas 
Morrison  —  Zoological  Museum — "William  Jennison  —  First  Railroad  — 
Turnpikes  — First  Public-School  Buildings— Opposition  to  Public  Schools 
—  Processions  of  School  Children  and  Other  Efforts  to  Excite  an  Inter- 
est in  Public  Schools— Samuel  Forrer  Takes  Charge  of  Turnpikes— His 
Biography  — Midnight  Markets— Cooper  Hydraulic  — Change  of  Chan- 
nel of  Mad  River— First  County  Fair— il/ants  Multicaulis  Excitement 
— Dayton  Carpet  Manufactory  — Number  of  Buildings  Erect«d  in  1839 — 
Log  Cabin  Newspaper— Harrison  Convention — Numbers  in  Attendance 
—Hospitality  of  Dayton  People  — Banners  Presented. 

In  April,  1836,  Council  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Stone,  Smith,  and  Winters,  to  effect  a  loan  in  behalf 
of  the  corporation  of  from  one  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  at  a  rate 
of  interest  not  exceeding-  six  per  cent.,  and  for  a  period  of  not 
less  than  five  years,  the  interest  to  be  paid  annually.  The 
money  so  obtained  was  to  be  used  in  improving  the  streets  and 
the  appearance  of  the  town.  The  following  proceedings  of  the 
next  meeting  of  Council  describe  the  proposed  improvements : 

"The  Common  Council  of  the  town  of  Dayton,  at  their  meet- 
ing April  25,  1836,  passed  the  following  resolution :  That  they 
would  appropriate  and  spend  so  much  money  ( provided  a  loan 
can  be  obtained )  as  will  make  the  following  improvements,  viz. : 
wharfing  across  the  head  of  the  State  basin  ;  improving  the 
public  commons  as  requested  by  D.  Z.  Cooper,  in  consideration 
of  his  releasing  a  part  thereof  for  the  benefit  of  the  corporation, 
provided  the  balance  be  improved  immediately ;  to  extend  the 
market-house  on  center  market-space  to  Jefferson  Street ;  to 
grade  the  streets  and  walks  throughout  the  town,  and  so  soon  as 
the  grade  is  correcth^  ascertained,  to  raise  and  lower  the  walks 
in  the  different  wards  to  the  said  grade ;  to  finish  the  cisterns 
already  commenced  with  lime  cement,  and  to  purchase  five  hun- 
dred more  feet  of  hose  for  the  Fire  Department." 

As  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  in  respect  to  the  propriety 
of  borrowing  money  and  making  the  above  improvements,  it  was 

1U3 


164  EARLY    DAYTON 

resolved,  on  motion  of  the  recorder,  David  Winters,  "that  all  citi- 
zens interested  in  the  above  matter  be  requested  to  meet  at  the 
Court-house  Wednesday  evening  next  at  early  candle-lighting, 
and  then  and  there  express  their  approbation  or  disapprobation 
of  the  above  measure."  Peter  Aughinbaugh  was  chairman  of 
the  town  meeting  called  by  Council,  and  Daniel  Roe  secretary. 
Addresses  were  made  by  Messrs.  Robert  C.  Schenck,  Ralph 
P.  Lowe,  Henrj'  Bacon,  and  Daniel  Roe.  There  was  some  oppo- 
sition to  the  proposed  improvements  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  more  for  ornament  than  use,  and  that  they  would  increase 
the  taxes,  while  the  advantages  would  be  unequally  distributed. 
Council  proposed  to  borrow  ten  thousand  dollars,  three  thousand 
of  which  were  to  be  expended  on  the  park  and  the  remainder 
on  other  improvements.  After  a  full  discussion  a  majority  of 
the  meeting  passed  resolutions  commending  the  improvements 
contemplated  by  Council  and  the  loan  by  means  of  which  they 
were  to  be  accomplished.  They  recommended  that  Council 
should  appl}^  one-tenth  of  any  amount  to  be  expended  during 
the  year  in  filling  up  the  ditch  commonly  called  "Seely's  Basin." 

An  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  February  17,  1808,  empow- 
ered Daniel  C.  Cooper  to  amend  the  original  plat  of  Dayton  as  to 
lots  94,  95,  96,  97,  98,  99,  100,  141,  142,  143,  and  then  set  them 
apart  as  a  common  for  the  use  of  the  citizens.  To  induce  the 
citizens  to  convert  the  "commons"  into  a  park  that  would  be 
creditable,  in  December,  1836,  David  Zeigler  Cooper,  son  of 
Daniel  Cooper,  executed  a  deed  authorizing  the  city  to  lease  lots 
94>  95.  ^"d  96,  and  releasing  any  reversionarj^  interest  that  might 
accrue  to  him.  It  was  provided  in  the  deed  that  the  remaining 
ground  should  be  enclosed,  planted  with  trees,  and  forever  kept 
as  "  a  walk  "  for  "the  citizens  of  Dajlon  and  its  visitors."  It 
was  manifestly  the  intention  that  the  proceeds  from  the  leases 
should  be  used  to  keep  the  park  in  perfect  order.  In  1838  the 
"public  square,"  as  the  park  was  then  called,  was  prepared  for 
and  planted  with  fine  forest  trees,  which  the  Joiirnal  of  that  daj' 
says  was  "a  fair  beginning  for  a  work  which  promises  to  be  a 
credit,  as  well  as  an  ornament,  to  the  town." 

Major  Daniel  W.  Wheelock,  the  efiicient  and  public-spirited 
Mayor  of  Dayton  during  1836,  1837,  and  1838,  suggested  many 
of  the  new  improvements,  and  energetically  hastened  the  com- 
pletion of  those  begun  while  he  was  in  ofiice.  A  number  of  new 
buildings  were  erected  in  1836-37.     Among  the  most  impor- 


1836- 1840  165 

tant  was  a  handsome  brick  Catholic  church.  Thomas  Morrison, 
builder,  as  stated  in  the  Dayton  Joicrnal,  reported  the  number  of 
buildings  put  up  this  year  as  forty-five  of  brick  and  thirty-five 
of  frame. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  mention  the  names  of  some  of  the 
business  men  whose  advertisements  appear  in  the  Journal  at 
tills  period.  Numbers  of  them  had  been  doing  business  in 
Dayton  for  many  years.  M.  &  G.  A.  Hatfield,  chairmakers ; 
T.  &  W.  Parrott,  merchants ;  John  Bidleman,  boot-  and  shoe- 
maker ;  Swain  «&  Demarest,  produce  dealers ;  Samuel  Shoup, 
merchant ;  Simon  Snyder  and  Samuel  McPherson,  tanners ; 
Thomas  Casad,  hatmaker ;  Thomas  Brown,  builder;  Richard 
Green,  shoemaker ;  J.  Burns,  edge-tool  manufacturer ;  H.  Best, 
jeweler ;  James,  Johnson  V.  &  Henry  V.  Perrine,  merchants ; 
James  McDaniel,  merchant  tailor ;  Aughinbaugh  &  Loomis, 
hardware;  George  W.  Smith  &  Son,  merchants  ;  Samuel  Dolly, 
coachmaker;  E.  Edmondson,  tanner;  Jacob  Stutsman,  copper- 
smith ;  Conover  &  Kincaid,  merchants ;  T.  Barrett  and  R.  P. 
Brown,  booksellers  and  bindery  ;  E.  Helfenstein  &  Co.,  hardware ; 
Phillips,  Green  &  Co.,  merchants;  C.  Koerner,  druggist;  Henry 
Herrman,  merchant;  Rench,  Harshman  &  Co.,  produce  dealers; 
D.  Z.  Peirce  and  W.  B.  Stone,  grocers;  C.  &  W.  F.  Spining, 
merchants ;  Brown  &  Hoglen,  grocers ;  Daniel  Roe  &  Sons, 
druggists;  Daniel  Keifer,  cabinet-maker;  Alexander  Swaynie, 
produce  dealer;  J.  Greer  &  Co.,  stoves;  T.  &  J.  H.  Boyer,  copper 
and  tin  shop  ;  Brown  &  Peirce,  merchants ;  Van  Cleve  &  Newell, 
druggists;  Estabrook  &  Phelps,  grocers;  Edwin  Smith  &  Co., 
druggists;  Morrison  &  Arnold,  builders;  Samuel  Brady,  mer- 
chant; R.  A.  Kerfoot,  saddler;  Abram  Darst,  grocer;  J.  O. 
Shoup,  merchant. 

This  year  a  daily  mail  from  Washington — through  in  fifty-six 
hours — was  established. 

A  memorable  convention  was  held  in  Dayton  in  August,  1836, 
in  the  interest  of  free  schools.  A  committee  of  arrangements 
was  appointed  consisting  of  E.  E.  Barney,  R.  C.  Carter,  R.  C. 
Schenck,  George  B.  Holt,  and  Milo  G.  Williams.  Delegates 
were  present  from  Cincinnati  and  seven  or  eight  other  Ohio 
towns,  and  visitors  from  Belleville,  New  Jersey,  and  Detroit, 
Michigan.  Rev.  E.  Allen  was  elected  president,  and  Daniel 
A.  Haynes  secretary.  The  convention  remained  in  session  three 
days.     Able  addresses  were  made  by  Rev.  W.  H.  McGufifey,  D.D., 


l66  EARLY  DAYTON 

a  man  of  remarkable  ability  as  a  speaker,  and  afterwards  the 
compiler  of  the  famous  readers  that  bore  his  name,  and  Dr.  Har- 
rison, an  eloquent  and  distinguished  professor  in  the  Cincinnati 
Medical  College.  The  discussions  took  a  wide  range,  and  were 
participated  in  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  educators  in 
the  State.  What  advanced  views  were  held  may  be  learned  from 
the  resolutions  adopted,  which  favored  the  establishment  of 
normal  schools,  that  teaching  might  become  a  profession  ;  the 
introduction  in  the  schools  of  the  studies  of  geology  and  physi- 
ology ;  and  the  publication  of  a  periodical  to  be  called  the 
Teachers'  Magazine.  The  convention  was  fulh'  reported  in 
the  Dayton  Joiiriial.  The  editors,  R.  N.  and  W.  F.  Comly, 
warmly  and  ably  advocated  the  cause  of  public  schools,  and 
freely  opened  the  columns  of  the  Journal  to  the  discussion  of 
the  subject. 

The  wild  speculations  which  preceded  and  culminated  in  1837 
resulted  in  a  complete  prostration  of  business,  from  which  the 
country  did  not  recover  for  many  j-ears.  The  failure  of  many 
banks,  and  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  b}'  the  others, 
made  money,  and  especially  silver  change,  excessively  scarce. 
As  a  substitute  for  small  coin,  "shinplasters,"  or  promises  to 
pay  fift}',  twenty-five,  or  ten  cents  on  demand,  printed  on  ordi- 
nary paper,  were  issued  by  merchants,  grocers,  and  others. 
Thomas  Morrison,  who  was  an  extensive  owner  of  real  estate, 
which  was  a  basis  for  credit,  issued  a  large  amount  of  these 
"shinplasters."  It  was  so  easy  and  tempting  to  issue  money 
which  was  current  to  be  redeemed  in  the  future,  that  it  is  not 
surprising  that  an  amount  was  put  out  much  beyond  the  original 
intention.  When  the  time  came  for  redemption,  the  following 
advertisement  in  the  Journal  of  June  26,  1838,  shows  the  unpleas- 
ant position  in  which  Mr.  Morrison  was  placed  : 

"PUBLIC  NOTICE — SHINPLASTERS  IN  DANGER. 

"Fellow-Citizens  :  I  am  compelled  to  leave  town  to  fulfill 
'a.  contract  that  I  have  undertaken  —  that  is,  to  build  a  mill  at  the 
falls  of  Greenville  Creek  for  G.  W.  Smith.  I  leave  Dayton  at 
this  time  with  regret,  because  the  law  prohibiting  the  circulation 
of  small  notes  or  shinpla.sters  is  soon  to  take  effect,  and  I  wish  to 
satisfy  my  fellow-citizens  that  I  am  not  the  man  under  any  cir- 
cumstances to  take  advantage  of  that  law,  by  which  the  State 
allows  me  to  act  the  rascal.  No  ;  it  is  vain  to  try  to  induce  me 
to  do  so.  I  intend  to  redeem  every  note  I  have  put  in  circulation, 
and  that  as  soon  as  I  return,  and  will  do  it  with  pleasure  and 


1836- 1840  167 

satisfaction.  I  desire  my  fellow-citizens  and  all  who  have  confi- 
dence in  my  word  of  honor  —  and  I  trust  there  are  some  who 
believe  I  will  do  as  I  say  —  not  to  refuse  to  take  them  till  my 
return,  when  every  cent  shall  be  paid,  with  the  addition  of  six 
per  cent,  interest  for  every  day  the  notes  are  left  unredeemed 
after  the  ist  of  July.  On  my  return  I  will  give  public  notice, 
so  that  the  holders  of  my  notes  ma}^  call.  It  has  been  an  un- 
profitable business,  but  it  shall  end  honestly." 

In  the  end  Mr.  Morrison  redeemed  in  full  all  the  "shinplas- 
ters"  he  issued.  Mr.  Morrison  came  to  Dayton  at  an  early 
day,  and  was  for  many  years  the  leading  contractor  and  builder 
of  the  town.  His  son,  David  H.  Morrison,  a  skillful  civil 
engineer  and  founder  of  the  Columbia  Bridge  Works,  married 
Harriet,  the  daughter  of  Robert  J.  Skinner,  the  pioneer  news- 
paper publisher  and  editor.  Mary  Morrison  married  Dr.  M. 
Garst,  and  Maria,  Daniel  Garst. 

A  number  of  citizens  assembled  on  the  i6th  of  September 
at  the  Court-house  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  zoolog- 
ical museum.  A  committee,  consisting  of  John  W.  Van  Cleve, 
Dr.  John  Steele,  William  Jennison,  and  Thomas  Brown,  was 
appointed  to  ascertain  whether  a  suitable  room  could  be  obtained, 
and  funds  for  paying  for  it  secured.  A  room  was  procured  at 
the  head  of  the  basin,  but  the  place  was  unsuitable  and  not 
attractive.  The  idea  of  establishing  a  public  museum  would 
not  have  suggested  itself  to  the  citizens  of  Dayton  at  that 
early  date  but  for  the  presence  here  of  a  very  accomplished 
naturalist,  William  Jennison,  who  had  been  for  a  number  of 
years  engaged  in  such  work  in  Germany,  and  being  connected 
with  foreign  societies  of  naturalists,  would  be  able  to  procure 
from  abroad  almost  any  specimens  desired,  merely  by  applying 
for  them  and  paying  the  cost  of  transportation.  He  had  a 
number  of  birds  prepared  by  himself  in  the  best  manner,  and 
handsomely  arranged  in  glass  cases ;  and  also  hundreds  of  insects 
classified  and  arranged  in  scientific  order,  and  affording,  by  the 
variety  of  size  and  color,  a  most  beautiful  sight,  though  "the 
poor  fellows  were  impaled  with  pins."  All  these  he  offered  to 
place  in  a  public  museum,  and  to  devote  part  of  his  time  to  the 
work  of  increasing  the  collection.  But  the  project  was  soon 
abandoned,  and  he  removed  his  birds  and  butterflies  to  his  resi- 
dence,—  then  a  short  distance  out  of  town,  but  now  on  lyinden 
Avenue,  within  the  corporation, —  where  he  had  a  garden  and 
greenhouse,  in  which  he  raised  fine  flowers  for  sale.     He  was  an 


l68  EARLY   DAYTON 

object  of  curiosit}-  to  the  people  when  he  went  out,  net  in  hand, 
to  collect  butterflies  for  his  cabinet  and  natural-history  specimens 
to  exchange  with  his  friends  across  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Jennison 
was  an  elegant  and  accomplished  man,  with  the  courtly  manner 
of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  regime.  He  spoke  English  perfectly, 
which  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  his  mother  was  an 
Englishwoman  of  rank,  whom  his  father.  Count  Jennison,  of 
Heidelberg,  had  married  while  minister  of  the  Kingdom  of  Wiir- 
temberg  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Washington  Irving,  in  a 
letter  published  in  the  second  volume  of  his  biography,  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  a  visit  which  he  paid  in  1822  to  Count 
Jennison  and  his  amiable  and  agreeable  famil}'.  He  describes 
the  Count  as  an  elegant  and  hospitable  and  highly  cultivated 
man,  who  spoke  English  as  perfectly  as  an  Englishman. 

A  meeting  was  held  on  the  evening  of  the  i8th  of  November, 
1837,  at  the  Court-house  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  an  interest 
in  the  Mad  River  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad  Company,  incorporated 
in  1832  and  organized  in  1834.  Since  the  election  of  officers  of 
the  company  nothing  further  had  been  done.  Jonathan  Harsh- 
man,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  and  Peter  Odlin  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  meeting,  and  resolutions  were  passed  urging  the  raising 
of  stock  and  the  speedy  commencement  of  the  road.  The  law 
affording  State  aid  to  railroads  had  recently  been  passed  by  the 
Ohio  Legislature. 

An  act  was  passed  on  the  24th  of  i\Iarch,  1S36,  by  the  Legis- 
lature "to  authorize  a  loan  of  credit  by  the  State  of  Ohio  to 
railroad  companies,  and  to  authorize  subscriptions  by  the  State 
to  the  capital  stock  of  turnpike,  canal,  and  slack-water  naviga- 
tion companies."  Dayton  was  one  of  the  first  towns  to  take 
advantage  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  guaranteeing  the  aid  of  the 
State  to  works  of  this  description,  and  before  the  repeal  of 
the  law  in  1840  it  had  been  the  means  of  putting  in  the  course 
of  construction  five  turnpikes,  the  aggregate  length  of  the  five 
roads  being  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  and  other  turnpikes 
were  in  contemplation.  To  the  abundance  of  gravel,  which  made 
the  construction  of  turnpikes  cheap  and  easy,  are  due  our  excel- 
lent turnpikes  leading  in  everj^  direction  to  the  neighboring 
towns.     By  1850  Dayton  had  fourteen  turnpikes. 

The  subscription  books  of  the  Dayton  &  Springfield  Company 
were  opened  January  19,  1838,  and  the  contract  made  on  the  12th 
of  May.    This  turnpike,  to  induce  travel  through  Dayton,  was 


1836- IS40  169 

built  in  the  same  style  as  the  National  Road,  especially  at  its 
junction  with  the  latter,  and  with  similar  bridges,  stone  culverts, 
toll-gates,  and  mile-stones.  Comfortable  brick  taverns  were 
erected  a  few  miles  apart  along  the  pike.  It  was  a  great  disap- 
pointment to  the  people  of  Dayton  that  the  National  Road  did 
not  pass  through  here.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  induce 
Congress  to  locate  the  road  through  Dayton,  and,  having  failed, 
equally  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  have  the  route  changed. 
Man}'  familiar  names  occur  in  connection  with  the  turnpikes 
—  Peter  Odlin,  R.  C.  Schenck,  Horace  Pease,  H.  G.  Phillips, 
Joseph  Barnett,  Thomas  Brown,  Thomas  Dover,  J.  W.  Van 
Cleve,  J.  H.  Crane,  Jonathan  Harshman,  John  Kneisley,  V. 
Winters,  Abram  Darst,  and  David  Z.  Peirce, 

On  Ma}'^  7,  183S,  a  public  meeting  was  called  at  the  Court-house 
to  discuss  the  erection  of  public  school-houses,  and  how  much 
money  should  be  raised  by  taxation  for  the  purpose.  Strenitous 
opposition  was  made  to  the  levy  of  the  tax  by  a  few  wealthy 
citizens ;  but,  after  a  heated  discussion,  the  measure  was  carried 
by  a  large  majority.  The  amount  to  be  raised  was  six  thousand 
dollars,  and  two  school-houses  —  one  in  the  eastern  and  one  in 
the  western  part  of  the  town — were  to  be  built.  The  opposition 
did  not  end  with  the  meeting.  It  was  believed  that  it  could  not 
be  proved  that  the  law  had  been  complied  with  in  giving  notice 
of  the  meeting.  This  had  been  anticipated  by  Mr.  E.  E.  Barney, 
who  had  taken  the  precaution  to  post  the  notices  in  person,  and, 
accompanied  by  a  friend,  had  visited  them  from  time  to  time  to 
see  that  they  were  not  removed.  The  houses  —  considered  models 
in  that  day — w^ere  built.  The  majority  of  the  children  attended 
private  schools,  and  all  sorts  of  eiforts  were  made  by  enlightened 
citizens  to  increase  the  popularity  of  the  public  schools. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1838,  Mr.  Elder's  school  paraded  on  INIain 
Street,  escorted  b}'  the  Blues  and  Grays, — the  militia  companies 
of  the  town, —  and  then  gave  a  concert  at  the  INIethodist  church. 
At  a  public  meeting  in  1839  ^t  was  resolved  that  the  Fourth  of 
July  should  be  celebrated  by  a  procession  of  the  pviblic,  private, 
and  Sunday  schools  of  the  town,  with  exercises  at  Cooper  Park 
and  a  picnic-dinner  for  the  children.  Children  and  teachers 
marched  on  one  side  of  the  street,  and  parents  and  citizens  on  the 
other.  In  1856  the  school  year  closed  with  a  procession  and  pic- 
nic across  the  river.  The  City  Council  and  School  Board  headed 
the  procession.     Each  school  carried  a  beautiful  silk  banner. 


lyo  EARLY    IjAVTON 

Two  brass  bands  enlivened  the  procession.  At  the  grove  there 
were  declamations  and  songs,  an  address  by  the  president  of  the 
board,  and  delivery  of  diplomas  to  High  School  graduates.  In 
1859  there  was  a  similar  procession  and  picnic. 

In  1839  ^I^"-  Samuel  Forrer,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the 
directors,  consented  to  take  charge  of  the  turnpikes  as  engineer 
and  general  superintendent.  The  roads  placed  under  his  super- 
vision were  the  Dayton  &  Lebanon,  Dayton  &  Springfield,  and 
the  Great  Miami  turnpikes.  The  Ohio  Legislature,  for  partisan 
reasons,  had  just  excluded  Mr.  Forrer  from  the  Canal  Board,  thus 
depriving  the  State  of  a  faithful  and  competent  officer.  But  as 
Daj-ton  could  now  secure  the  constant  aid  of  his  invaluable 
talents  and  experience  in  the  various  public  improvements  in 
which  the  citizens  were  interested,  and  which,  although  of  a 
local  character,  deeply  concerned  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people,  there  were  some  among  us,  the  Journal  says,  selfish 
enough  not  to  regret  the  change.  For  some  years  the  county 
commissioners  have  had  the  supervision  of  the  turnpikes.  The 
toll-gates,  which  used  to  Idc  encountered  every  few  miles  along 
the  road,  have  been  abolished  by  a  law  permitting  the  purchase 
of  the  pikes  by  the  county  from  the  companies. 

Samuel  Forrer  was  reappointed  in  the  spring  of  1837,  by  the 
Board  of  Public  Works,  principal  engineer  on  the  lines  of  the 
Wabash  and  Erie  and  Miami  canals.  This  appointment,  as 
the  proper  administration  of  the  canal  involved  the  prosperity  of 
Daj'ton,  was  a  matter  of  rejoicing  here.  A  number  of  Dayton 
young  men  went  out  with  Mr.  Forrer  to  learn  civil  engineering. 
Howe's  "Historical  Collections  of  Ohio"  contains,  in  the  chap- 
ter on  ' '  Pioneer  Engineers  of  Ohio, ' '  by  Colonel  Charles 
Whittlesey,  the  following  interesting  biographical  sketch  of 
Mr.  Forrer : 

"No  engineer  in  Ohio  spent  as  many  years  in  the  service  of 
the  State  as  did  Mr.  Forrer.  He  came  from  Pennsylvania  in 
1818,  and  in  1819  was  deputy  surve3^or  of  Hamilton  County, 
Ohio.  In  1S20  Mr.  William  Steele,  a  very  enterprising  citizen  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  employed  Mr.  Forrer  at  his  own  expense  to 
ascertain  the  elevation  of  the  Sandusky  and  Scioto  summit 
above  Lake  Erie.  His  report  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  by  Gov- 
ernor Brown.  This  was  the  favorite  route  [for  the  Erie  Canal], 
the  shortest,  lowest  summit,  and  passed  through  a  very  rich 
country.     The  great  question  was  a  supply  of  water.     It  would 


1836- 1840  IJI 

have  been  located,  and  in  fact  was  in  part,  when  in  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1823  it  was  found  by  Judge  D.  S.  Bates  to  be  wholly 
inadequate.  Of  twenty-three  engineers  and  assistants  eight  died 
of  local  diseases  within  six  years.  Mr.  Forrer  was  the  only  one 
able  to  keep  the  field  permanently  and  use  the  instruments  in 
1823.  When  Judge  Bates  needed  their  only  level,  Mr.  Forrer  in- 
vented and  constructed  one  that  would  now  be  a  curiosity  among 
engineers.  He  named  it  the  Pioneer.  It  was  in  form  of  a 
round  bar  of  wrought  iron,  with  a  cross  like  a  capital  T.  The 
top  of  the  letter  was  a  flat  bar  welded  at  right  angles,  to  which  a 
telescope  was  made  fast  by  solder,  on  which  was  a  spirit-level. 
There  was  a  projection  drawn  out  from  the  cross-bar  at  right 
angles  to  it,  which  rested  upon  a  circular  plate  of  the  tripod. 
By  means  of  thumb-screws  and  reversals,  the  round  bar  acting 
as  a  pendulum,  a  rude  horizontal  plane  was  obtained,  which  was 
of  value  at  short  range. 

"Mr.  Forrer  was  not  quite  medium  height,  but  well  formed 
and  very  active.  He  was  a  cheerful  and  pleasant  companion. 
Judge  Bates  and  the  canal  commissioners  relied  upon  his  skill 
under  their  instructions  to  test  the  water  question  in  1823.  He 
ran  a  line  for  a  feeder  from  the  Sandusky  summit  westerly  and 
north  of  the  watershed,  taking  up  the  waters  of  the  Auglaize 
and  heads  of  the  Miami.  Even  with  the  addition  the  supply 
was  inadequate.  Until  his  death  in  1874  Mr.  Forrer  was  nearly 
all  the  time  in  the  employ  of  the  State  as  engineer,  canal 
commissioner,  or  member  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works.  He 
was  not  only  popular,  but  scrupulously  honest  and  industri- 
ous. His  life-long  friends  regarded  his  death  as  a  personal 
loss  greater  than  that  of  a  faithful  public  ofiicer.  He  was  too 
unobtrusive  to  make  personal  enemies,  not  neglecting  his  duties, 
as  a  citizen  zealous  but  just.  He  died  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  at 
10  A.M.,  March  25,  1874,  from  the  exhaustion  of  his  physical 
powers,  without  pain.  Like  his  life  he  passed  away  in  peace  at 
the  age  of  eighty,  his  mind  clear  and  conscious  of  the  approach- 
ing end." 

In  the  winter  of  1838  the  experiment  was  tried  of  having 
market  on  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday  afternoons,  and  in 
the  early  morning  on  the  other  three  days.  But  the  people  soon 
returned  to  what  Curwen  calls  "our  midnight  markets,"  the 
bell  ringing  at  four  o'clock  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  the  people 
hurrying  at  the  first  tap  to  the  market -house,  as  a  short  delay 


172  EARLY   DAYTON 

would  deprive  them  of  their  favorite  cut  of  meat  or  first  choice 
of  vegetables  and  force  them  to  fill  their  baskets  with  rejected 
articles.  As  in  New  York  two  hundred  years  ago,  "such  was 
the  strife  among  the  thrifty  townsfolk  to  be  on  hand  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  market,  and  thereb}-  get  the  pick  of  the  goods,  that 
long  before  noon  the  bulk  of  the  business  was  done."  This 
custom  of  market  before  daj-break,  in  spite  of  its  discomfort, 
continued  for  many  3-ears. 

In  spite  of  the  hard  times,  Da3-ton  was  prosperous  in  183S. 
The  following  improvements  were  made  that  3ear :  Council 
expended  about  six  thousand  dollars  in  improving  and  beautify- 
ing the  town  ;  the  streets  and  pavements  were  graveled,  guttered, 
and  macadamized  for  the  first  time,  though  the  work  had  been 
begun  three  years  before ;  eighty-nine  buildings,  fifty-six  of 
brick  and  thirty-three  of  frame,  were  erected,  and  more  would 
have  been  put  up  if  it  had  been  possible  to  obtain  sufficient  brick 
and  timber.  The  principal  buildings  erected  were  two  brick  dis- 
trict school-houses,  the  first  that  were  built  in  Dayton,  and  the 
Third  Street  Presb^^terian  Church.  This  was  also  of  brick, 
sevent3'-two  by  fift3'-two  feet  in  size,  ' '  of  approved  architectural 
beaut3%"  and  cost  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  dwellings  in 
town  were  all  occupied  to  their  fullest  capacity,  and  there  were 
none  for  rent  or  for  sale. 

The  most  valuable  improvement  made  this  year  was  the 
Cooper  H3'draulic,  constructed  by  Edward  W.  Davies  and 
Alexander  Grimes,  agents  of  the  Cooper  estate.  "It  is  an 
enterprise,"  said  \h.&  Journal,  "for  the  projection  and  comple- 
tion of  which  all  who  have  the  prosperity  of  Dayton  at  heart 
will  cheerfull3-  accord  to  the  gentlemen  above  named  due  credit 
for  their  public  spirit."  The  h3-draulic  was  seven  hundred  feet 
long  and  fift3'  feet  wide,  with  twelve  feet  head,  and  was  built 
between  Third  and  Fifth  streets,  west  of  W3'andotte  Street.  '  'A 
bend  in  Mad  River  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  extended 
south  from  the  aqueduct  to  First  Street,  and  along  that  street, 
crossing  what  is  now  Keowee  and  Meigs  Street,  thence  in  a. 
northwest  direction,  crossing  Taylor  Street  south  of  Monument 
Avenue,  and  on  and  across  Monument  Avenue  to  and  uniting 
with  the  Miami  River  at  a  point  about  four  hundred  feet  south  of 
the  present  mouth  of  Mad  River."  In  1840  Mr.  Davies  and  Mr. 
Grimes,  as  a  further  improvement  to  the  Cooper  estate,  "caused 
a  survey  to  be  made  for  a  new  channel  for  Mad  River  from  the 


I 


From  a  photograph  hy  Boweraox. 

YOUNG  men's  christian   ASSOCIATION   BUILDING. 


1836- 1840  173 

aqueduct  straight  to  the  Miami  River."  It  was  finished  in 
the  winter  of  1842.  Originally  a  bayou  extended  up  Mad  River 
from  the  Miami  to  Keowee  Street. 

Dayton  Township  was  divided  March  12,  1839,  into  two  election 
precincts,  the  first  precinct  voting  at  the  Court-house  and  the 
second  at  Houk's  Tavern  on  Market  Street. 

The  Montgomery  County  Agricultural  Society  had  been  organ- 
ized September  11,  1838,  with  Colonel  Henry  Protzman  president, 
and  Charles  Anderson  secretary.  The  first  Montgomery  County 
Agricultural  Fair  was  held  in  Dayton  at  Swaynie's  Hotel,  at 
the  head  of  the  basin,  October  17  and  18,  1839.  At  eleven  in 
the  morning  on  the  17th  a  procession  of  about  three  hundred 
persons  interested  in  the  society  marched,  headed  by  a  band 
of  music,  through  the  principal  streets  to  the  hotel,  where  the 
anniversary  address  was  delivered  by  D.  A.  Haynes.  The 
display  of  horses,  cattle,  and  farm  products  was  fine.  The  com- 
mittee on  silk,  Daniel  Roe,  C.  S.  Bryant,  John  Edgar,  Peter 
Aughinbaugh,  Charles  G.  Swain,  W.  B.  Stone,  and  R.  N. 
Comly,  awarded  a  premium,  a  silver  cup  worth  ten  dollars,  for 
the  greatest  amount  of  silk  produced  from  the  smallest  number 
of  7nulticaulis  leaves.  Other  valuable  premiums  were  awarded 
by  the  society,  but  the  cup  was  offered  by  members  of  the  Silk 
Company. 

The  mention  of  the  Morns  nuilticazilis  tree  recalls  to  memory- 
one  of  those  strange  manias  that  occasionally  sweep  over  the 
country.  The  tree  had  recently  been  introduced  from  China, 
was  of  rapid  growth,  and  furnished  abundant  food  for  silk- 
worms. It  was  believed  that  the  cultivation  of  this  tree,  and 
the  use  of  its  leaves  to  feed  silkworms,  would  make  the  United 
States  the  great  silk-producing  countrj^  of  the  world.  The 
most  extravagant  price  was  paid  for  young  trees,  and  thousands 
of  acres  were  planted.  Wide-spread  ruin  was  the  result,  and 
hundreds  of  persons  lost  their  all  in  this  wild  speculation. 

Swaj'nie's  Hotel,  where  the  first  Montgomery  County  Agri- 
cultural Fair  was  held,  was  finished  in  April,  1839.  It  was 
considered  a  first-class  house,  and  regarded  with  pride  by  the 
people  of  Dayton.  All  the  carpets  in  the  hotel  were  manufac- 
tured by  the  Dayton  Carpet  Company,  and  were  of  such  superior 
texture,  designs,  and  colors  that  guests  of  the  house  could  with 
difficulty  be  convinced  that  they  were  made  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains.    The  Dayton  carpets  were  sold  in  the  stores 


174  EARLY   DAYTON 

at  Cincinnati  and  other  Western  towns  as  imported  carpets,  and 
purchasers  did  not  discover  the  deception. 

The  number  of  buildings  erected  in  Dayton  in  1839,  as  counted 
by  Thomas  Morrison,  was  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  of  brick, 
thirty-six  of  wood,  and  twenty-six  intended  for  business  houses. 
A  new  First  Presb3'terian  Church  took  the  place  of  the  old  one 
built  in  1817.  A  Baptist  church  was  also  built  on  the  corner 
of  Fourth  and  Jefferson  streets,  forty  by  sixty  feet  in  size  and 
seventy-five  feet  in  height.  The  front  presented  a  very  neat 
specimen  of  the  Grecian  Doric  architecture.  The  cost  of  the 
whole,  including  the  lot,  was  six  thousand  dollars.  A  number 
of  improvements  were  made  along  the  hydraulic.  Mr.  Thomas 
Brown,  after  particular  inquiry  made  at  the  request  of  the 
Jojirnal,  reported  that  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  bricks 
were  made  in  Dayton  during  1839.  The  number  on  hand  he 
computed  at  five  hundred  thousand,  which  gave  four  millions  as 
the  number  of  bricks  laid  during  the  year. 

In  Februar}',  1839,  the  prospectus  of  the  Log  Cabhi  newspaper, 
published  in  Dayton  bj'  R.  N.  and  W.  F.  Comly,  appeared.  The 
Log  Cabin  was  continued  during  the  Harrison  campaign,  and 
after  enough  subscribers  were  obtained  to  pay  expenses,  was  gra- 
tuitously distributed  as  a  campaign  document.  A  large  picture 
of  a  log  cabin,  with  a  barrel  of  hard  cider  at  the  door,  occupied 
the  first  page  of  the  paper.  The  illustrations  were  drawn  and- 
engraved  by  John  W.  Van  Cleve.  The  price  of  the  paper  was 
fifty  cents  for  thirteen  numbers.  Two  files  of  the  Log  Cabi?i, 
which  attained  a  national  reputation,  are  on  the  shelves  of  the 
Dayton  Public  Library. 

The  population  of  Dayton  was  now  six  thousand  and  sixty- 
four. 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest  has  there  been  a  more 
exciting  Presidential  campaign  than  that  which  preceded  the 
election  of  General  W.  H.  Harrison,  and  nowhere  was  the  enthusi- 
asm for  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe  greater  than  in  Dayton.  A  remark- 
able Harrison  convention  was  held  here  on  the  date  of  Perry's 
victory  on  Lake  Erie,  and  tradition  has  preserved  such  extrava- 
gant accounts  of  the  number  present,  the  beaut}'  of  the  emblems 
and  decorations  displayed,  and  the  hospitality  of  the  citizens 
and  neighboring  farmers,  that  the  following  prophecy  with  which 
the  Joiirnal  began  its  account  of  the  celebration  may  almost  be 
said  to  have  been  literally  fulfilled :     "  Memorable  and  ever  to  be 


1836- 1840  175 

remembered  as  is  the  glorious  triumph  achieved  by  the  immortal 
Perry  on  the  loth  of  September,  1813,  scarcely  less  conspicuous 
on  the  page  of  history  will  stand  the  noble  commemoration  of 
the  event  which  has  just  passed  before  us."  Innumerable  flags 
and  Tippecanoe  banners  were  stretched  across  the  streets  from 
roofs  of  stores  and  factories,  or  floated  from  private  residences  and 
from  poles  and  trees.  People  began  to  arrive  several  days  before 
the  convention,  and  on  the  9th  crowds  of  carriages,  wagons,  and 
horsemen  streamed  into  town.  About  six  o'clock  the  Cincinnati 
delegation  came  in  by  the  Centerville  road.  They  were  escorted 
from  the  edge  of  town  by  the  Dayton  Grays,  Butler  Guards,  Day- 
ton military  band,  and  a  number  of  citizens  in  carriages  and  on 
horseback.  The  procession  of  delegates  was  headed  by  eleven 
stage-coaches  in  line,  with  banners  and  music,  followed  by  a 
long  line  of  wagons  and  carriages.  Each  coach  was  enthusi- 
astically cheered  as  it  passed  the  crowds  which  thronged  the 
streets,  and  the  cheers  were  responded  to  by  occupants  of  the 
coaches.  Twelve  canal-boats  full  of  men  arrived  on  the  loth, 
and  every  road  which  led  to  town  poured  in  its  thousands  early 
in  the  morning. 

General  Harrison  came  as  far  as  Jonathan  Harshman's,  five 
miles  from  town,  on  the  9th  and  passed  the  night  there.  Early 
in  the  morning  his  escort,  which  had  been  encamped  at  Fairview, 
marched  to  Mr.  Harshman's  and  halted  there  till  seven  o'clock, 
when  it  got  in  motion  under  command  of  Joseph  Barnett,  of 
Dayton,  and  other  marshals  from  Clark  County.  A  procession 
from  town,  five  miles  long,  under  direction  of  Charles  Anderson, 
chief  marshal,  met  the  General  and  his  escort  at  the  junction  of 
the  Troy  and  Springfield  roads.  The  battalion  of  militia,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Bomberger,  of  the  Dayton  Grays,  and  con- 
sisting of  the  Grays  and  Washington  Artillery,  of  Dayton  ;  the 
Citizens'  Guards,  from  Cincinnati;  Butler  Guards,  of  Hamilton, 
and  Piqua  Light  Infantry,  were  formed  in  a  hollow  square,  and 
General  Harrison,  mounted  on  a  white  horse,  his  staff",  and  Gov- 
ernor Metcalf  and  staff,  of  Kentucky,  were  placed  in  the  center. 
'Every  foot  of  the  road  between  town  and  the  place  where 
General  Harrison  was  to  meet  the  Dayton  escort  was  literally 
choked  up  with  people. ' ' 

The  immense  procession,  carrying  banners  and  flags,  and 
accompanied  by  canoes,  log  cabins  furnished  in  pioneer  st3'le, 
and  trappers'  lodges,  all  on  wheels,  and  filled  with  men,  girls,  and 


176  EARLY    DAYTON 

boys,  the  latter  dressed  in  hunting-shirts  and  blue  caps,  made  a 
magnificent  display.  One  of  the  wagons  contained  a  live  wolf 
enveloped  in  a  sheepskin,  representing  the  "hypocritical  profes- 
sions" of  the  opponents  of  the  Whigs.  All  sorts  of  designs 
were  carried  by  the  delegations.  One  of  the  most  striking  was 
an  immense  ball,  representing  the  Harrison  States,  which  was 
rolled  through  the  streets.  The  length  of  the  procession  was  about 
two  miles.  Carriages  were  usually  three  abreast,  and  there  were 
more  than  one  thousand  in  line.  The  day  was  bright  and  beau- 
tiful, and  the  wildest  enthusiasm  swayed  the  mighty  mass  of 
people  who  formed  the  most  imposing  part  of  "this  grandest 
spectacle  of  time,"  as  Colonel  Todd,  an  eye-witness,  termed  the 
procession.  The  following  description  of  the  scene,  quoted  by 
Curwen  from  a  contemporary  newspaper,  partakes  of  the  excite- 
ment and  extravagance  of  the  occasion  : 

"The  huzzas  from  gray-headed  patriots,  as  the  banners  borne 
in  the  procession  passed  their  dwellings,  or  the  balconies  where 
the}'  had  stationed  themselves ;  the  smiles  and  blessings  and 
waving  kerchiefs  of  the  thousands  of  fair  women,  who  filled  the 
front  windows  of  every  house ;  the  loud  and  heartfelt  acknowl- 
edgments of  their  marked  courtesy  and  generous  hospitalit}''  by 
the  different  delegations,  sometimes  rising  the  same  instant  from 
the  whole  line ;  the  glimpses  at  every  turn  of  the  eye  of  the  flut- 
tering folds  of  some  one  or  more  of  the  six  hundred  and  forty- 
four  flags  which  displayed  their  glorious  stars  and  stripes  from 
the  tops  of  the  principal  houses  of  every  street,  the  soul-stirring 
music,  the  smiling  heavens,  the  ever-gleaming  banners,  the 
emblems  and  mottoes,  added  to  the  intensity  of  the  excitement. 
Ever}'  eminence,  housetop,  and  window  was  thronged  with  eager 
spectators,  whose  acclamations  seemed  to  rend  the  heavens. 
Second  Street  at  that  time  led  through  a  prairie,  and  the 
b3'standers,  b}*  a  metaphor,  the  sublimit}-  of  which  few  but 
Westerners  can  appreciate,  likened  the  excitement  around  them 
to  a  mighty  sea  of  fire  sweeping  over  its  surface,  'gathering,  and 
heaving,  and  rolling  upwards,  and  yet  higher,  till  its  flames 
licked  the  stars  and  fired  the  whole  heavens.'" 

After  marching  through  the  principal  streets  the  procession 
was  disbanded  by  General  Harrison  at  the  National  Hotel  on 
Third  Street.  At  one  o'clock  the  procession  was  reformed  and 
moved  to  the  stand  erected  for  the  speeches  "upon  a  spacious 
plain"   east  of  Front  Street  and  north  of  Third.     Mr.  Samuel 


1836- 1840  177 

Forrer,  an  experienced  civil  engineer,  made  an  estimate  of  the 
space  occupied  by  this  meeting  and  of  the  number  present  at  it. 
He  says  :  "An  exact  measurement  of  the  lines  gave  for  one  side 
of  the  square  ( oblong)  one  hundred  and  thirty  j'ards  and  the 
other  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  including  an  area  of  nineteen 
thousand  five  hundred  square  yards,  which,  multiplied  by  four, 
would  give  sevent3'-eight  thousand.  Let  no  one  who  was 
present  be  startled  at  this  result  or  reject  this  estimate  till  he 
compares  the  data  assumed  with  the  facts  presented  to  his  own 
view  while  on  the  ground.  It  is  easy  for  any  one  to  satisfy  him- 
self that  six,  or  even  a  greater  number  of  individuals,  may  stand 
on  a  square  yard  of  ground.  Four  is  the  number  assumed  in 
the  present  instance ;  the  area  measured  is  less  than  four  and 
one-half  acres.  Every  farmer  who  noticed  the  ground  could 
readily  perceive  that  a  much  larger  space  was  covered  with 
people,  though  not  so  closely  as  that  portion  measured.  All  will 
admit  that  an  oblong  square  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  yards  by 
one  hundred  and  fifty  did  not  at  any  time  during  the  first  hour 
include  near  all  that  were  on  the  east  side  of  the  canal.  The 
time  of  observation  was  the  commencement  of  General  Harri- 
son's speech.  Before  making  this  particular  estimate  I  had 
made  one  by  comparing  this  assemblage  with  my  recollection  of 
the  25th  of  February  convention  at  Columbus,  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  at  least  four  times  as  great  as  that."  Two 
other  competent  engineers  measured  the  ground,  and  the  lowest 
estimate  of  the  number  of  people  at  the  meeting  was  seventy- 
eight  thousand,  and  as  thousands  were  still  in  town  it  was 
estimated  that  as  many  as  one  hundred  thousand  were  here 
on  the  loth  of  September. 

Places  of  entertainment  were  assigned  delegates  by  the  com- 
mittee appointed  for  that  purpose,  but  it  was  also  announced  in 
the  Jo7irnal  that  no  one  need  hesitate  "to  enter  any  house  for 
dinner  where  he  may  see  a  flag  flying.  Every  Whig's  latch- 
string  will  be  out,  and  the  flag  will  signify  as  much  to  all  who 
are  a  hungry  or  athirst."  A  public  table,  where  dinner  was 
furnished,  as  at  the  private  houses,  without  charge,  was  also 
announced  as  follows  by  the  Jo2irnal:  "We  wish  to  give  our 
visitors  log-cabin  fare  and  plenty  of  it,  and  we  want  our  friends 
in  the  country  to  help  us."  A  committee  was  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  the  baskets  of  the  farmers,  who  responded  liberally 
to  this  appeal. 
12 


178  EARLY    DAYTON 

In  early  times,  when  hotel  and  boarding-house  accommodations 
in  Dayton  were  very  limited,  it  was  the  custom,  whenever  there 
was  a  political  or  religious  convention,  or  any  other  large  public 
meeting  here,  for  the  citizens  to  freely  entertain  the  delegates  at 
their  homes.  At  night  straw-beds  were  laid  in  rows,  a  narrow 
path  between  each  row,  on  the  floors  of  rooms  and  halls  in  both 
stories  of  dwellings,  and  in  this  wa}^  accommodation  was  fur- 
nished for  many  guests.  The  making  of  the  ticks  for  these  beds 
before  the  da3"s  of  sewing-machines,  required  manj^  daj's  of 
labor,  often  principally  done  by  the  hostess.  As  late  as  1853, 
when  the  first  State  fair  was  held  in  Dayton,  public-spirited 
citizens  who  could  afford  the  expense  exercised  this  generous 
but  somewhat  primitive  hospitality.  WHien  a  meeting  was  of  a 
religious  character,  the  different  denominations  assisted  in  enter- 
taining the  guests.  During  the  1S40  convention  the  hot  dinner, 
w'hich  was  served  if  possible  on  such  occasions,  was  supple- 
mented by  large  quantities  of  cold  roast  and  boiled  meats, 
poultrj^  cakes,  pies,  and  bread  that  had  been  prepared  before- 
hand. A  few  wealthy  housekeepers  employed  men  cooks  and 
other  additional  assistance  during  the  convention.  But  there 
were  no  caterers  or  confectioners  in  those  daj-s,  and  good  domes- 
tic help  was  rare,  so  that  a  great  part  of  the  labor  of  preparing 
for  their  hungry  crowd  of  guests  was  performed  by  Da3'ton  ladies 
with  their  own  hands. 

All  the  houses  in  Dayton  occupied  by  Whigs  were  crowded  to 
their  fullest  capacity  during  the  Harrison  convention,  and  again 
at  the  Clay  convention  in  1842.  One  family,  according  to  a 
letter  from  its  mistress  written  at  the  time,  entertained  three 
hundred  persons  at  dinner  one  day  in  1S42,  and  the  same  night 
lodged  nearly  one  hundred  guests.  Thirty  Kentuckians  left  that 
afternoon,  or  there  would  have  been  over  one  hundred  lodgers. 
The  writer  states  that  the  houses  of  all  her  friends  and  relatives 
were  as  crowded  as  her  own,  and  says  that  this  lavish  hospitality 
was  a  repetition  of  what  occurred  in  1840.  The  letter  contains 
an  interesting  description  of  a  morning  reception  for  ladies 
during  the  convention  of  1842  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  J.  D. 
Phillips,  where  Mr.  Clay  was  staying.  A  crowd  of  women  of 
all  ranks  and  conditions — some  in  silk  and  some  in  calico — were 
present.  Mr.  Clay  shook  hands  with  them  all,  afterwards  mak- 
ing a  complimentary  little  speech,  saying,  among  other  graceful 
things,  that  the  soft  touch  of  the  ladies'  hands  had  healed  his 


1836- 1840  179 

fingers,  bruised  by  the  rough  gra,sp  of  the  men,  whom  he  had 
received  the  day  before. 

Among  other  interesting  occurrences  during  the  Harrison  con- 
vention was  the  presentation,  on  the  9th  of  September,  of  a 
beautiful  banner  to  the  Tippecanoe  Club  of  the  town  by  the 
married  ladies  of  Dayton.  The  banner  was  accompanied  by  an 
eloquent  address  written  for  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  D.  K.  Este, 
and  was  presented  in  the  name  of  the  ladies  to  the  club,  who 
were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  J.  D.  Phillips,  by 
Judge  J.  H.  Crane.  It  was  decorated  on  one  side  with  an  em- 
broidered wreath,  with  a  view  of  General  Harrison's  house  in 
the  center,  and  on  the  other  side  with  a  painting  of  Perrj''s 
victory  on  Lake  Erie,  executed  by  Charles  Soule  ' '  with  the  skill 
and  taste  for  w^hich  he  is  so  distinguished. ' ' 

On  the  nth  of  September  the  5-oung  ladies  of  Dayton  pre- 
sented a  banner,  wrought  b}^  their  own  hands,  to  General 
Harrison.  Daniel  A.  Haynes  made  the  presentation  speech. 
The  convention  was  addressed  by  many  noted  men.  General 
Harrison  was  a  forcible  speaker,  and  his  voice,  while  not  sonor- 
ous, was  clear  and  penetrating,  and  reached  the  utmost  limits  of 
the  immense  crowd.  Governor  Metcalfe,  of  Kentucky,  was  a 
favorite  with  the  people.  A  stonemason  in  early  life,  he  was  called 
"  Stone- Hammer  "  to  indicate  the  crushing  blows  inflicted  by  his 
logic  and  his  sarcasm.  The  inimitable  Thomas  Corwin  held  his 
audience  spellbound  with  his  eloquence  and  humor,  and  R.  C. 
Schenck  added  greatly  to  his  reputation  by  his  incisive  and  witty 
speeches.  Joseph  H.  Crane,  R.  S.  Hart,  and  other  Daytonians 
spoke. 


DAYTON  FROM  1840  TO  1896 


181 


CHAPTER  X 

DAYTON  FROM  1840  TO  1896 

The  Beginning  of  "the  Forties  "  —  Distinguished  Visitors— Schools— Oregon 
—  West  Dayton  — Banks  — Police  Department— New  Jail  and  Court-House 
—Cemeteries  — Dayton  Bar— General  Robert  C.  Schenck  — Clement  L. 
Vallandigham  — Thomas  Brown- Prominent  Physicians  — Public  Library 
—Churches  — Floods  — Cholera— The  Mexican  War— First  Telegraph  Mes- 
sage—Gasand  Electric  Light  — Railroads— Street-  Railroads  — Fire  Depart- 
ment—Water-Works—Dayton Orphan  Asylum  —  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association — Woman's  Christian  Association — Young  Women's  League 
— St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  —  Protestant  Deaconess  Hospital  —  Musical  Soci- 
eties-Literary Clubs  — Improvements  — Manufacturing  and  Mercantile 
Interests  —  Natural  Gas  —  Newspapers  —  Periodicals  —  Davi d  Stout  —  Eben- 
ezerTliresher— Valentine  Winters  —  FrederickGebhart  — Robert  W.Steele. 

By  the  beginning  of  "the  forties"  man}-  of  the  toilers  who 
had  made  the  earl}-  historj^  of  Daj-ton  slept  in  the  little  green 
graveyard  on  Fifth  Street.  There  were  a  few  left — old  men  and 
women  who  told  the  fireside  tales,  or  watched  with  qniet  wonder 
the  enterprises  of  the  new  generation,  treading  with  careful  steps 
the  newly  made  streets  and  pavements,  or  venturing  out  on  the 
smooth  roads,  with  bridges,  toll-gates,  and  taverns,  that  were 
being  built  in  all  directions. 

This  bright,  hospitable  little  town  seems  to  have  had  some 
distinguished  visitors.  In  1842  it  was  enlivened  by  another 
convention  and  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  great  Clay. 
Again  all  were  made  welcome.  Receptions,  banquets,  banner 
presentations,  and  speeches  were  the  order  of  the  da3^  In  the 
autumn  of  1S43  John  Quincy  Adams  passed  through  Dayton  on 
his  way  to  Cincinnati. 

The  early  settlers  had  ever  been  anxious  to  secure  for  their 
children  the  advantages  of  civilization  which  they  had  willingly 
abandoned  for  themselves,  and  now  the  public  schools,  under  the 
care  of  a  faithful  board  of  directors,  were  getting  a  foothold  in 
spite  of  hard  times,  for  in  1S42  four  schools  were  opened, — two  in 
houses  built  for  them  in  1837  and  two  in  rented  rooms, — but 
were  thriftily  closed  before  the  end  of  the  second  quarter  to  avoid 
debt ;  and  it  was  not  until  1849  that  the  full  school  year  was 

183 


lS4  DAYTON  FROM    1840  TO    1896 

reached.  But  there  was  no  lack  of  fine  private  schools.  Milo  G. 
Williams  took  charge  of  the  Dayton  Academy  in  1844,  and 
taught  there  until  1850 ;  and  in  1845  Cooper  Female  Seminary 
was  opened,  in  charge  of  E.  E.  Barney,  and  at  once  became 
known  throughout  Ohio,  by  reason  of  the  strong  personality, 
magnetism,  and  culture  of  Mr.  Barney-,  as  an  attractive  and 
scholarly  institution  —  qualities  which  also  distinguished  it 
under  the  management  of  Miss  Cox,  whose  name  is  held  in 
thankful  remembrance  by  many  of  the  brightest  women  of  Day- 
ton and  other  Ohio  cities. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  1847  added  St.  Joseph's  to  its 
parochial  schools,  and  in  1849  St.  Mar3''s  Institute. 

In  the  spring  of  1850  the  Central  High  School  of  Dayton  was 
opened.  In  the  fall  it  was  located  in  the  old  academ}-  building, 
where  it  remained  until  1857,  when  a  new  building  was  put  up 
for  it  on  the  same  ground  —  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Fourth 
and  Wilkinson  streets,  where  the  Central  District  School  now 
stands.  James  Campbell,  who  was  afterwards  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  who  was  a  dear  lover  of  books,  served  as  princi- 
pal for  eight  years.  Miss  IMary  G.  Dickson,  upon  whom  much 
practical  work  must  have  fallen ;  James  Turpin,  whose  name 
stood  for  music  in  Dayton  ;  and,  later,  dear  old  Jean  Bartholo- 
mew, genial,  eas}',  and  far  from  a  fiery  Frenchman,  completed 
the  first  short  list  of  teachers,  whose  names,  ' '  like  a  waft  from 
the  gracious  spring,"  take  back  to  youth  many  staid  and  sober 
men  and  women  of  to-day.  -Since  then  the  roll  of  teachers  and 
pupils  has  lengthened  and  the  curriculum  broadened,  but  the 
same  spirit  of  zeal,  energ}-,  and  enthusiasm  rules  in  the  new 
High  School  building,  occupied  since  1892,  and  named  in  honor 
of  one  of  the  best  friends  of  the  schools  —  Robert  W.  Steele.  The 
new  building  is  situated  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  Street 
and  Monument  Avenue,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  country, 
having  cost  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 

A  normal  school  was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1869  for  the 
higher  education  and  training  of  teachers.  The  free  night 
schools  were  established  in  1877.  A  manual-training  school  was 
opened  January  2,  1896,  in  the  Central  District  School  building. 

There  are  now  nineteen  district  schools,  with  twenty-nine 
buildings  conveniently  located  in  the  various  parts  of  the  city. 
Many  of  these  buildings  are  large,  handsome  in  appearance,  and 
well  equipped  with  modern  improvements. 


DAYTON   FROM    1840  TO    1 896  1 85 

In  1845  Dayton  began  to  spread  itself.  That  part  of  the  city 
called  ' '  Oregon ' '  was  platted ;  also,  about  the  same  time,  the 
part  lying  west,  between  Wolf  Creek  and  the  Germantown  pike, 
which  was  called  "Miami  City,"  now  "West  Dayton."  The 
common  from  1845  to  1855  was  the  unenclosed  ground  west  of 
Ludlow  Street  to  the  river  and  south  of  the  old  graveyard. 

The  warfare  of  President  Andrew  Jackson  upon  the  United 
States  Bank  and  the  refusal  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  to  renew  its 
charter  compelled  the  closing,  on  the  27th  day  of  January,  1S43, 
of  one  of  the  soundest  banks  in  the  country  —  the  old  Dayton 
Bank.  Dayton  remained  without  banking  facilities  for  more 
than  two  years.  In  1845  two  strong,  conservative  banks  were 
started — the  Dayton  Bank  and  the  Bank  of  Dayton.  Fifty 
years  of  fair  business  prosperity,  with  the  advantages  of  the 
banking  law  of  1863,  have  since  given  us  a  number  of  reliable 
and  successful  banks. 

In  1841  an  ordinance  was  passed  providing  that  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  city  two  constables  should  be  elected  each  year  in 
addition  to  the  marshal  and  deputy.  It  would  seem  that  Dayton 
was  once  a  very  good  little  city,  but  in  1S50  sixty  men  were 
added  to  this  body.  That  Dayton,  as  a  certain  small  boy  said  of 
himself,  "grew  bigger  and  bigger  and  badder  and  badder,"  is  in- 
dicated by  the  organization  in  1873  of  the  metropolitan  police 
force,  with  a  chief,  two  lieutenants,  twenty-six  patrolmen,  three 
roundsmen,  and  three  turnkeys,  the  arrangement  being  similar  to 
that  now  in  force.  The  city  had  no  prison  before  1858,  its  few 
offenders  being  confined  in  the  county  jail.  Then  an  old  engine- 
house  on  Main  Street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth,  was  fitted  with  cells 
and  so  used.  In  1872  the  United  Brethren  church,  near  the  corner 
of  Sixth  and  Logan  streets,  was  bought  and  remodeled  for  a  city 
prison.  In  1875  the  county  commissioners  vacated  the  stone  jail 
on  Main  Street,  and  it  has  since  then  been  used  as  a  work-house. 

The  old  Court-house,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and 
Third  streets,  was  completed  in  1850.  "An  exceptionallj^  fine 
reproduction  of  Grecian  architecture,  it  was  at  the  time  of  its 
erection  the  finest  building  in  the  State,  and  is  still  regarded  as 
one  of  the  notable  buildings  of  the  cit}'."  The  new  Court-house 
on  Main  Street,  north  of  the  old  one,  was  completed  in  1884. 

It  was  decided  in  the  spring  of  1869  that  a  new  jail  was  needed 
for  the  county.  It  was  placed  west  of  the  Court-house,  on  Third 
Street,  and  completed  in  February,  1874. 


l86  DAYTOX  FROM    1S40  TO   1896 

John  W.  Van  Cleve,  of  whom  a  biographical  sketch  has  been 
given  in  a  previous  chapter,  had  a  very  tender  feeling'  for  this 
corner  of  the  earth,  which  his  father  had  helped  to  hew  out  of  the 
wilderness.  He  was  one  of  those  who  "call  ever}'  bush  my 
cousin."  Original  in  character,  odd  in  appearance,  the  jolly 
band  of  children  who  followed  his  burly  figure  through  many 
holiday  excursions  grew  wiser,  happier,  and  healthier.  Men 
and  women  found  in  him  an  intelligent,  cultivated,  and  agreeable 
companion,  and  a  very  true  and  loyal  friend.  As  a  citizen  he 
was  advanced,  enterprising,  and  of  unbending  integrity.  As 
previously  stated,  to  him  more  than  to  any  other  we  are  indebted 
for  our  beautiful  Woodland  Cemetery.  He  made  the  suggestion 
of  a  rural  cemetery',  and  from  the  organization  of  the  Woodland 
Cemetery  Association,  in  1842,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1S58, 
ser\'ed  as  its  president  and  gave  to  its  affairs  an  amount  of  labor 
and  watchful  supervision  which  money  covild  not  have  purchased. 
In  June,  1843,  the  cemetery  was  opened,  being  the  third  rural 
cemetery  of  any  importance  established  in  the  United  States. 
Robert  W.  Steele  became  the  president  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Van 
Cleve,  and  served  with  the  same  unselfish  sagacity  until  his 
death  in  1891.  Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Steele,  Jonathan  H.  Win- 
ters has  been  the  president  of  the  association. 

The  ground  for  St.  Henry's  Cemetery  was  purchased  by  Arch- 
bishop Purcell  and  used  as  a  burial-place  by  the  Roman  Catholics 
until  1872,  when  land  was  purchased  for  Calvary  Cemetery,  two 
and  a  half  miles  south  of  the  city,  on  a  commanding  bluff,  with 
a  wide  outlook  over  the  neighboring  hills,  valle3's,  and  river. 

The  Hebrew  Congregation  purchased  an  acre  on  Brown  Street 
in  1851,  which  is  no  longer  in  use,  a  new  cemetery  having  been 
located  near  Calvary  on  the  bluffs. 

The  first  member  of  the  Dayton  bar,  Jvidge  Crane,  with  his 
well-trained  mind,  legal  learning,  courteous  and  commanding 
bearing,  simple  life,  and  kind  and  helpful  friendliness,  had 
unconsciously  done  much  to  mold  the  character  and  ambitions 
of  the  3'oung  lawyers  who  were  his  companions  and  successors, 
so  that  the  spirit  of  integrity  came  to  be  a  characteristic  of  the 
early  Dayton  bar.  Of  the  members  of  this  early  bar,  Charles 
Anderson  became  Governor  of  Ohio,  four  were  judges,  two 
members  of  Congress,  and  ten  members  of  the  Ohio  Legislature. 
Among  the  later  members  Judge  Haynes  is  perhaps  the  oldest 
and  most  respected.    John  A.  McMahon,  who  represented  the 


DAYTOX  FROM    1840  TO   1896  187 

Third  Ohio  District  in  Congress  for  three  terms,  and  Lewis 
B.  Gunckel,  who  served  in  Congress  and  other  political  capac- 
ities, and  whose  services  in  connection  with  the  location  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home  inJDayton  and  its  management  are  especially 
appreciated,  stand  at  the  head  of  the  profession  at  present. 

If  "the  baton  of  a  marechal  is  hidden  in  every  soldier's  knap- 
sack," there  must  have  been  much  in  the  saddle-bags  which 
young  Robert  C.  Schenck  brought  to  Da3-ton  in  183 1  of  which 
even  he  had  no  knowledge,  for  his  musings  as  he  followed  the 
narrow  trail  through  the  quiet  wood  were  only  of  the  fortune  he 
must  make  and  of  how  he  would  some  day  write  his  name  beside 
those  of  Crane,  Holt,  Anderson,  and  Thruston.  The  youth  was 
not  ill  equipped — wnth  a  nature  which  time  showed  to  be  strong 
and  deep,  unlimited  energy,  a  brain  full  of  wit,  and  a  mind  orig- 
inal and  logical,  stored  and  trained  by  six  years  at  Oxford,  Ohio, 
where  he  had  graduated  first  in  his  class,  and  in  the  ofiice  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  legal  practitioners  of  Ohio — Thomas 
Corwin,  of  Lebanon.  The  saddle-bags  contained  one  very 
tangible  treasure  in  the  sealed  letter  from  Mr.  Corwin  to  Judge 
Crane — the  "open  sesame"  to  needed  opportunity,  for  when  the 
Judge  had  read  it  and  taken  a  keen,  quiet  look  at  the  slim,  pale- 
faced,  pale-haired  young  man,  he  invited  him  to  become  his 
partner.  So,  instead  of  waiting  and  hoping  for  a  client,  he  had 
for  the  next  three  years  the  care  of  one  of  the  largest  practices  in 
Ohio,  Judge  Crane  having  been  called  to  Washington  soon  after. 

In  politics  Mr.  Schenck  was  an  ardent  Whig.  He  was  a  capti- 
vating speaker,  and  did  yeoman  service  in  the  Harrison  campaign. 
In  1841  he  was  elected  to  the  Ohio  Legislature,  from  which  he 
and  other  Whig  members  resigned  in  order  to  defeat  the  Demo- 
cratic "gerrymander  bill."  The  next  year  he  was  returned  to 
the  Legislature.  In  1843  Mr.  Schenck  was  elected  to  represent 
this  district  in  Congress,  where  he  spent  eight  active  j^ears  and 
was  ranked  among  the  foremost  men  of  his  party.  In  185 1  he  was 
appointed  United  States  Minister  to  Brazil.  Having  performed 
some  important  diplomatic  services,  he  returned  to  Da^^ton  in  1S56. 

Robert  C.  Schenck  was  said  by  Lincoln  to  have  been  the  first 
man  who  in  a  public  address  named  him  for  the  Presidency. 

When  "with  a  voice  that  shook  the  land,  the  guns  of  Sum- 
ter spoke,"  Mr.  Schenck  offered  his  services  to  the  Government 
and  was  made  a  brigadier-general.  He  commanded  a  brigade  at 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  did  good  service  by  his  "gallantry 


l88  DAYTON   FROM    1840  TO    1 896 

in  action  and  coolness  and  discretion  in  retreat."  In  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run  he  was  shot  in  the  wrist  while  urging  his 
men  on  with  uplifted  sword.  While  suffering  from  this  wound 
he  received  the  commission  of  major-general.  Still  unfit  for 
active  service,  he  was  given  command  of  the  Middle  District, 
where  he  filled  a  difficult  place  with  sagacity  and  skill.  Being 
again  elected  to  Congress  in  his-  old  Third  District,  in  1S63,  he 
resigned  his  commission  in  the  army.  It  has  been  said  that  "  a 
history  of  the  course  of  General  Schenck  in  the  Thirty-ninth 
and  Fortieth  Congresses  would  be  a  complete  history  of  the 
military  legislation  of  the  coiintry  through  the  most  eventful 
years  of  the  War  to  its  close." 

Appointed  by  Geiieral  Grant  Minister  to  Great  Britain  in  1871, 
he  represented  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  St.  James  for 
five  years.  During  this  period  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  Joint 
High  Commission  ^Droviding  for  the  Geneva  Conference.  And 
to  the  zeal  and  ability,  tact  and  experience,  of  Robert  C.  Schenck 
America  is  very  much  indebted  for  that  peaceful  settlement. 
This  was  the  crowning  achievement  in  the  life  of  the  old 
statesman. 

General  Schenck  was  ever  a  fearless  fighter,  and  while  he  was 
a  man  with  many  loyal  friends,  his  extremely  frank  and  caustic 
speech  had  made  bitter  enemies,  who  were  able  to  darken  some- 
what, by  annoying  and  unfoimded  charges,  the  last  days  of  a 
man  who  had  for  more  than  forty  years  put  the  interests  of  his 
country  before  his  own,  and  used  in  her  service  talents  and  ener- 
gies which,  applied  to  his  chosen  profession,  would  undoubtedly 
have  brought  him  fortune,  friends,  and  fame. 

It  seems  well  to  tell  the  story  of  General  Schenck's  life  at  .some 
length,  not  because  it  is  full  of  interest,  as  it  is, — not  because  he 
served  his  country  well,  as  he  did,— but  because  he  belonged  to 
Dayton  —  was  her  most  distinguished  citizen  :  his  fame  was  hers  ; 
he  loved  the  place,  cast  his  first  and  last  vote  at  her  polls,  and 
now  sleeps  on  one  of  her  sunny  hillsides  with  the  companions  of 
his  yovith. 

To  the  older  men  of  Dayton  there  are  few  names  that  bring 
more  stirring  memories  than  that  of  Clement  L,.  Vallandigham, 
who  came  to  Dayton  in  1847,  —  a  lawyer  by  profession,  by  in.stinct 
a  politician.  He  had  the  qualities  of  his  ancestors, — Scotch-Irish 
and  Huguenot, — ability,  courage,  ambition,  and  dogged  deter- 
mination, qualities  which,  after  a  series  of  defeats,  gave  him  a 


From  a  pliotograph  by  Apjjlftn 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


From  a  photograph  bj  Appleton. 


THIRD  STREET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


DAYTON   FROM    1840   TO    1896  1 89 

seat  in  the  Congress  of  1856,  and  kept  him  there  until  1862. 
Vallandigham's  opposition  to  the  War  was  so  radical,  his  prin- 
ciples so  boldly  declared,  his  influence  in  his  party  so  great,  as 
to  induce  his  arrest  by  the  Government  in  May,  1863,  his  trial 
by  a  militarj'  commission,  and  banishment  to  the  South.  In 
June  of  the  next  year  he  ran  the  blockade  from  Wilmington  to 
Bermuda,  and  from  there  to  Canada,  where  he  remained  at 
Windsor  until  the  following  spring.  While  there  he  was  nom- 
inated by  acclamation  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  of 
Ohio,  and  defeated  by  John  Brough,  of  which  Senator  Sherman 
has  just  said,  "I  have  alwaj^s  regarded  Brough's  election  in 
Ohio  upon  the  issue  distinctly  made,  not  only  as  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  War,  but  in  support  of  the  most  vigorous  measures  to 
conduct  it,  as  having  an  important  influence  in  favor  of  the  Union 
cause  equal  to  that  of  any  battle  of  the  War."  In  June,  1864, 
INIr.  Vallandigham  returned  to  his  home  in  Dayton,  where  he  was 
received  by  an  immense  crowd  of  sympathetic  and  enthusiastic 
friends.  From  this  time  he  was  again  a  familiar  and  striking 
figure  at  Democratic  meetings  and  conventions.  In  May,  1S71, 
he  presented  to  the  convention  in  Dayton  his  "New  Departure" 
resolutions.  Soon  after,  he  delivered  the  last  and  probably  most 
powerful  speech  of  his  life.  Mr.  Vallandigham  formed  a  law- 
partnership  in  1S70  with  Judge  Haynes.  In  June  of  the  following 
year  he  was  leading  attorney  for  the  defense  in  an  important 
murder  trial  at  Lebanon.  While  demonstrating  his  theory  in 
regard  to  the  alleged  murder,  he  accidentally  shot  himself,  and 
died  the  next  morning.  Then  once  again  the  name  of  Vallan- 
digham brought  together  a  great  concourse  of  people.  This 
time  they  followed  him  quietly,  and  left  him  sadly  in  the  peace 
which  comes  to  all  —  under  the  sod. 

Among  the  portraits  in  the  large  history  of  Dayton,  Ohio, 
published  in  1889,  is  one  with  the  trembling,  unsteady  signature 
of  an  old  man — "Thomas  Brown."  I^ife  was  still  attractive 
and  full  of  interest  to  this  bright-eyed,  active,  helpful,  genial 
old  man  when  the  angel  of  death  led  him  gently  over  the 
threshold  into  the  promised  land  one  daj^  in  ]\Iay,  1894.  INIr. 
Brown  had  been  one  of  Dayton's  best  citizens  since  1828.  "A 
man  of  public  spirit,  fully  up  with  the  times,  and  always  at  the 
front  in  all  public  enterprises,"  he  was  a  Christian  and  a  gentle- 
man of  the  old  school.  Born  in  1800,  Mr.  Brown  had  seen  the 
century  from  the  beginning  almost  to  the  end. 


igO  DAYTOX   FROM    1S4O   TO    1S96 

In  1S40  the  medical  profession  was  represented  in  Da3'ton  b}- 
such  old-school  gentlemen  and  positive  characters  as  Dr.  John 
Steele,  Dr.  Job  Haines,  and  Drs.  Hibberd  and  Adams  Jewett. 
Later  came  many  others,  among  them  Dr.  Clarke  McDennont, 
who  serv'ed  the  soldiers  with  heart  and  hand ;  Dr.  Armor,  and 
Dr.  John  Davis.  Of  the  charter  members  of  the  iNIontgomery 
County  Medical  Societj^  organized  in  1849,  only  two  survive  — 
Dr.  Carey,  lovingly  remembered  by  manj^  friends  and  patients 
here,  now  a  citizen  of  Indianapolis,  and  Dr.  J.  C.  Reeve,  whose 
keen,  sensitive,  scholarly  face  is  still  a  familiar  one  among  us. 

Perhaps,  among  the  many  who  spend  long  summer  hours 
under  the  trees  in  Cooper  Park,  idly  watching  the  little  crowd 
that  passes  along  the  sun-flecked  walk,  and  in  and  out  of  the 
open  door  of  the  Librar}',  there  are  a  few  who  wonder  what  it  is  — 
this  strange  hunger  for  books,  not  knowing  it  was  that  which 
made  the  beautiful  building  possible,  and  stored  it  with  treasures 
to  which  all  are  made  welcome  ;  for  it  is  a  very  common  instinct 
among  those  who  love  books  to  pass  their  blessings  on.  This 
feeling  led  to  the  establishment  of  libraries  and  hxeums,  and 
to  the  organization  in  1847  of  the  Dayton  Library  Associa- 
tion, which  soon  started  on  a  pleasant  and  useful  career,  with 
an  opening  list  of  a  thousand  books.  In  a  little  town  of  scarcely 
twenty  thousand  people  a  library  association  was  a  luxury  that 
must  be  paid  for  with  work  and  self-denial.  The  cheerful  givers 
were  called  upon  again  and  again,  while  other  friends  labored 
earnestly  wnth  tongue  and  pen,  that  the  good  work  might  go 
on.  The  money  which  had  been  gathered  b}'  taxation  for  school 
library  purposes  was  used  in  Dayton  for  a  central  librar}',  which 
started  in  1S55  with  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  carefull}^ 
selected  books  free  to  all.  In  i860  it  was  determined  that  the 
public  interest  w^ould  be  best  served  by  the  union  of  the  two  libra- 
ries ;  so  the  Library"  Association  transferred  its  valuable  library 
and  furniture  to  the  Board  of  Education.  The  united  books,  the 
cheerful  room,  an  ever-ready  librarian,  and  the  prosperity  of  an 
assured  income,  combined  then  to  make  the  Dayton  Public  Library 
the  object  of  pride,  pleasure,  and  profit  to  the  citizens  of  Daj'ton 
which  it  is  now.  In  188S  the  library  was  removed  to  the  stone,  fire- 
proof building  in  Cooper  Park — one  of  the  finest  in  the  West — 
which  it  now  occupies  ;  and  in  its  commodious  quarters,  with  more 
than  thirty-five  thousand  catalogued  books,  and  a  well-equipped 
museum,  it  is  the  center  of  attraction  for  a  large  number  of  citizens. 


DAYTON  FROM    1840  TO    1896  I9I 

Dayton  has  never  been  lacking  in  chnrclies.  In  1842  Dr.  Barnes 
was  preaching  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  the  second 
that  had  been  built  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Ludlow  streets, 
where  a  handsome  stone  one  now  stands.  The  Third  Street 
Presbj'terians  built  a  brick  church  on  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Ludlow  streets  in  1842,  which  they  occupied  until  it  was  torn 
down  to  make  way  for  the  present  handsome  stone  structure. 
The  town  clock  which  many  remember  on  the  old  Second  Pres- 
byterian steeple,  was  purchased  and  first  placed  on  the  tower  of 
Wesley  Chapel  in  1S51.  The  First  Baptist  Church  had  finished 
an  edifice  on  the  corner  of  Jefferson  and  Fourth  streets,  where  they 
remained  until  the  removal  to  their  present  quarters  on  Main 
Street.  Christ  Episcopal  Church,  on  Jefferson  Street,  was  then 
almost  ten  years  old,  and  was  not  abandoned  until  1874,  when 
a  new  one  was  completed  on  First  Street.  The  First  United 
Brethren  Church  was  organized  in  1847  i^  ^  small  room  in  the 
Oregon  Engine-House.  Their  first  church  building  was  erected 
in  1852  on  Sixth  Street  near  Logan,  and  serv^ed  the  congrega- 
tion until  1873,  when  the  lot  on  Fifth  Street  between  Main  and 
Jefferson  was  bought,  on  which  their  church  now  stands.  The 
Methodists,  who  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Da3ton,  had 
already  outgrown  two  churches  when  a  new  brick  one  was  erected 
on  Third  Street  in  1849.  In  1866  more  room  was  needed  by  the 
congregation,  and  a  lot  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Ludlow 
streets  was  purchased  and  a  new  building  dedicated  in  1870.  The 
First  Reformed  Church  had  finished  their  building  on  Ludlow 
between  Second  and  Third  streets  in  1840.  The  First  English 
Lutherans  built  their  first  house  of  worship  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Fourth  and  Jefferson  streets  in  1841.  Their  present 
church  building  was  erected  in  i860,  and  dedicated  in  January, 
1861.  The  first  Hebrew  congregation  was  organized  in  1850. 
They  met  in  the  old  Dayton  Bank  building  until  1863,  when 
they  purchased  the  old  Baptist  church.  Since  then  a  hand- 
some synagogue  has  been  built  on  Jefferson  between  First  and 
Second  streets.  The  first  Roman  Catholic  family  came  to  Daj'ton 
in  1831.  By  1837  the  Franklin  Street  church  was  built,  and  in 
1873  a  "^'sry  large  new  one  just  east  of  the  old  site  was  dedicated. 
The  first  church  for  colored  people  was  organized  in  1842.  From 
these  various  beginnings  have  sprung  many  churches  and  mis- 
sions, until  now,  looking  down  from  the  surrounding  hills,  noth- 
ing is  more  striking  than  the  number  of  slender  spires  in  the 


192  DAYTOX   FROM    1S40   TO    1S96 

once  little  town  below  that  has  come  to  be  called  the  ' '  City  of 
Churches." 

Da^'ton  was  much  terrified  and  incommoded  by  the  flood  of 
1S47.  Some  money  was  lost,  but  no  lives.  The  heavy  rainstorms 
of  September,  1866,  again  produced  a  flood,  which  cost,  in  losses 
to  individuals  and  public  property,  no  less  than  two  hundred 
and  fiftj'  thousand  dollars.  After  this  disaster  the  waterway  was 
broadened  and  the  bridges  lengthened.  Another  general  flood 
occurred  in  Februar5^  18S3,  and  an  extraordinarily  heavy  storm 
visited  the  city  in  1SS6. 

In  the  summer  of  1849,  ^7  ^  cholera  epidemic  Dayton  lost 
more  than  two  hundred  of  her  people. 

For  the  first  half  century  Dayton,  like  a  happy  young  mother, 
kept  her  children  close  about  her ;  but  the  modern  restless  feel- 
ing began  to  come.  Some  talked  of  the  gold  of  California,  and 
took  the  long  and  toilsome  trip  as  if  it  were  a  journey  to  Fairy- 
land. Some  talked  of  politics  and  some  of  war.  Blaine  says, 
"There  was  not  in  the  whole  country  a  single  citizen  of  intelli- 
gence who  was  indifferent  to  Clay  or  Jackson."  A  little  later 
the  men  of  Dayton  were  watching  the  battles  of  the  political 
giants  with  the  same  eager  interest.  Some  had  been  captivated 
by  the  "Fifty-four  forty,  or  fight "  campaign  cry.  Others  would 
have  left  that  question  to  time.  vSome  were  for  the  annexation 
of  Texas  and  the  acquisition  of  Mexican  territory.  Others 
felt  that  a  war  with  Mexico  would  have  no  excuse  of  justice  or 
necessity.  Yet  when  the  election  of  Mr.  Polk  gave  an  unques- 
tionable verdict  in  favor  of  annexation,  and  when  on  May  13,  1846, 
war  with  Mexico  w^as  formally  declared,  the  citizens  of  Dayton 
sprang  forward  to  defend  the  countrj^  and  Dayton  became  a  ral- 
l3-ing-point  for  the  enlistment  of  soldiers.  The  militia  of  the 
county,  organized  as  the  First  Brigade,  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
General  Adam  Speice,  was  attached  to  the  Tenth  Division  of  Ohio 
Militia.  Public  meetings  were  held  and  offices  opened  for 
recruiting. 

On  the  20th  of  May  the  First  Brigade  of  the  Tenth  Division  was 
ordered  to  assemble  at  Dayton  with  a  view  to  immediate  organi- 
zation for  service.  As  the  numbers  of  the  companies  were  not 
quite  full,  the  National  Guard,  Captain  Hormell,  began  recruit- 
ing on  the  26th  at  their  armory  ;  the  Dayton  Dragoons,  changed 
to  Dayton  Riflemen,  Captain  Giddings,  at  McCann's  store.  The 
Riflemen  and  National  Guard  were  the  first  to  start  for  Camp 


From  a  photograph  by  Appleton. 


GRACE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 


From  a  photograph  Ijy  Appletoi 


CHURCH  OF  THE  SACKED  HEART. 


DAYTON   FROM    184O   TO    1 896  I93 

Washington,  the  rendezvous  for  Ohio  volunteers.  The}-  boarded 
the  canal-boats,  amid  music  and  cheering,  just  at  sunset  on  the 
4th  of  June.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  most  of  Daj'ton  watched 
the  slow  boats  towed  off  and  the  bright  new  banners  vanish 
m  the  distance.  There  were  sad  hearts,  of  course  ;  but  many  also 
who  were  eager  to  follow.  So  b}^  June  9  another  company 
was  ready  to  leave,  but  could  not  be  accepted  bj'  the  Government, 
too  many  men  having  alread}'  volunteered  for  the  necessities  of 
the  service.  B3'  August  the  three  Ohio  regiments  were  beside 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  later  took  a  brave  part  in  the  battle  of 
Monterej-.     Eight  Da3'ton  men  were  lost  in  this  battle. 

In  1847  the  Fifteenth  Regiment  of  regulars  was  raised  to  serve 
during  the  war.  In  one  of  the  companies  there  were  twent3--two 
Da3'ton  men.  Edward  A.  King  was  appointed  captain  of  this 
compan3-,  which  left  Da3'ton  on  the  24tli  of  April,  1847,  a  great 
crowd  watching  its  departure  also.  The  time  of  the  first  two 
companies  having  expired,  the3'  were  mixstered  out  of  service  at 
New  Orleans  June  11  and  12.  Compan3^  B  reached  Da3-ton  on 
the  26th  with  a  tattered  flag  and  but  fortx"  men  ;  Compan3'  C,  a 
few  da3'S  later.  The  people  turned  out  from  town  and  countr3^  — 
five  thousand  of  them  —  and  waited  at  the  foot  of  Main  Street 
with  the  militia,  music,  and  guns  until  the  slow  little  canal- 
boats  brought  them  back.  In  response  to  the  next  call  for  troops 
the  "Dayton  German  Grenadiers"  were  raised,  Captain  John 
Werner.  These  were  with  Scott  at  Contreras,  Churu1)usco,  Cha- 
pultepec,  and  the  cit3^  of  Mexico.  In  July,  1S4S,  the3'  returned 
with  onl3'  tliirt3'-six  men.  Peace  was  proclaimed  b3-  President 
Polk  Jul3'  4,  1S48.  The  niilitar3'  spirit  seems  to  have  lingered  in 
Da5'ton  long  after  the  end  of  the  war,  and  was  kept  up  by 
reviews,  sham-battles,  and  parades.  The  largest  of  these  dem- 
onstrations was  in  1858,  when  Governor  Chase  reviewed  the  Ohio 
troops  at  Da3'ton. 

The  first  telegraph  message  was  received  in  Da3'ton  September 
17,  1847.  In  the  next  few  3^ears  other  lines  were  built,  which 
have  since  been  consolidated,  until  now  there  are  but  two  ofiices 
in  the  cit3'. 

The  population  of  Da3fton  in  1848  was  fourteen  thousand. 

Houses  were  first  lighted  133'  gas  in  1849,  but  street  lights  came 
a  little  later.  At  present  the  cit3-  is  well  supplied  with  both  gas 
and  electric  light. 

Curwen  sa3's,  in  1850 :  "Dayton  is  on  the  natural  route  of  the 
13 


194  DAYTON    FROM    1840   TO    1896 

great  chain  of  railroads  that  are  destined  at  an  early  date  to  con- 
nect the  extreme  West  with  the  Atlantic  cities.  The  completion 
of  the  several  lines  of  railroads  now  in  process  of  construction 
and  contemplated  will  afford  a  continuous  chain  from  St.  Louis 
to  all  the  great  commercial  cities  of  the  East.  What  has  been 
done  may  be  briefly  stated.  The  Lake  Erie  &  Mad  River  Rail- 
road [from  Da3'ton  to  Sanduskj']  terminates  here.  Over  this 
road  there  passed  last  j^ear  over  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand 
people.  The  Dayton  &  Western  Railroad  [from  Daj-ton  to  Rich- 
mond, Indiana]  when  completed  will  be  one  of  the  "best  roads 
in  the  country.  The  road  from  Daj-ton  to  Greenville  will  be  in 
operation  early  in  1851."  It  is  .safe  to  say  that  Mr.  Curvven's 
predictions  have  been  amply  fulfilled.  Dayton  now  has  eleven 
railroads,  which  form  parts  of  four  great  systems.  The  period 
of  which  Curwen  writes  was  also  one  of  great  prosperit}'  for  the 
canals,  which  showed  little  diminution  for  the  next  ten  years. 

The  first  street-railroad  was  chartered  in  1869,  as  the  "Da3-ton 
Street  Railroad,"  though  generally  known  as  the  "Third  Street 
Railroad."  Others  followed  rapidly  until  in  1896  there  are  few 
parts  of  the  city  not  reached  by  street-cars.  Electricity  has 
taken  the  place  of  horse-power  on  all  but  one  road. 

After  a  discussion  of  several  3-ears  the  volunteer  fire  department 
in  Dayton  was  succeeded  by  a  paid  force,  and  the  first  steam 
fire-engine  was  purchased  in  1863.  Dayton  now  has  one  of  the 
most  efiicient  and  best-equipped  fire  departments  in  the  country. 

At  the  spring  election  of  1869  the  question  was  put  to  the 
people  w^hether  water-works  should  be  erected,  and  was  answered 
in  the  afiirmative.  On  April  i,  1870,  the  water- works  committee 
made  a  report  to  Council  to  the  effect  that  the  machiner}-  and 
fixtures  placed  in  position  were  in  successful  operation,  and  up 
to  and  over  the  standard  guaranteed  by  the  company ;  from 
which  time  Da3-ton  has  been  one  of  the  most  fortunate  cities  in 
her  unfailing  supply  of  pure,  cold  water. 

The  Daj-ton  Female  Orphans'  Association  was  incorporated  in 
1844.  The  first  home,  a  small  brick  building  on  Magnolia  Street, 
was  used  until  the  erection  of  the  new  one  across  the  Miami 
River.  In  1867  the  commissioners  of  INIontgomer}'  Countj'  deter- 
mined to  take  charge  of  the  Da3-ton  Orphan  As3^1um.  A  new 
home  was  built  in  Harrison  Township  and  opened  in  1867.  The 
number  of  children  taken  care  of  averages  of  late  years  about 
a  hundred. 


DAYTON  FROM    1S40  TO    1S96  I95 

The  Daj'ton  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  had  its  origin 
in  a  great  religious  revival  in  1869  and  1S70,  the  object  of  the 
association  being  "the  physical,  intellectual,  social,  and  spirit- 
tial  improvement  of  young  men."  The  first  home  of  the  asso- 
ciation was  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Jour?ial  building,  north  of 
the  Coiirt-house.  In  the  spring  of  1S75  funds  were  raised,  and  the 
old  Dunlevy  residence,  on  Fourth  Street,  bought,  remodeled, 
furnished,  and  occupied  within  a  single  month.  A  fine  gym- 
nasium was  opened  in  1SS5,  which  only  demonstrated  the  need 
of  greater  facilities.  In  1S86  fifty-five  thousand  dollars  were 
contributed  towards  a  new  building,  which  was  at  once  begun, 
and  dedicated  in  the  following  year.  The  property  is  now  valued 
at  over  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  value  of  the  work 
done  for  j-ovtng  men  is  inestimable. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Association  was  organized  in  1870. 
Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  3-oung  men's  association,  and 
hoping  to  work  in  unison  with  them,  their  work  has  been 
crowned  with  even  greater  success  than  could  have  been 
hoped.  The  work  is  of  varied  character.  A  widows'  home  is 
sustained,  and  a  woman's  exchange  operated.  There  are  many 
committees  for  visiting  the  Soldiers'  Home,  the  hospitals,  the 
jail,  and  for  missionary  work.  The  day  and  night  classes 
and  lunches  for  working  girls  have  been  among  the  modern  and 
successful  experiments.  The  old  Winters  homestead  on  Third 
Street  was  bought  in  1891,  and  now  forms  the  attractive  and 
convenient  home  of  the  society. 

The  Young  Women's  League,  organized  in  1895,  has  a  large 
membership  —  principally  of  working  women  —  and  a  comfortable 
club-house,  on  Jefferson  Street,  south  of  Fifth. 

St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  was  started  on  Franklin  Street,  near 
Ludlow,  in  1878,  in  a  very  modest  way  by  two  Sisters  of  the 
Poor  of  St.  Francis.  They  soon  found  that  there  was  a  broad 
field  for  their  work.  More  room  was  needed.  The  Sisters  selected 
six  acres  of  land  in  Browntown,  which  were  purchased,  and  the 
corner-stone  laid  in  1881  for  a  large  building.  There,  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions,  they  are  quietly  doing  a  noble  work. 

The  Protestant  Deaconess  Society  of  Dayton  was  organized 
in  August,  1890.  At  first  two  or  three  deaconesses  from  Cin- 
cinnati nursed  in  private  families.  In  October,  1891,  a  temporary 
hospital  was  opened  on  Fourth  Street  near  St.  Clair,  under  the 
direction   of  the  society.      Its   usefulness    proved   that   such   a 


196  DAYTON  PROM    184O  TO    1896 

hospital,  home,  and  training-school  for  nurses  was  needed  for 
the  growing  city.  On  Sunday,  October  14,  1894,  a  new  building 
was  dedicated.  It  was  built  on  the  ground  of  the  old  Widows' 
Home,  which  had  been  bought  and  donated  for  the  purpose  by 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Winters.  Crowning  an  eminence  overlooking  the 
city,  it  stands  "a  stately  and  massive  edifice,  built  for  a  noble 
cause  and  dedicated  to  it."  "Behold,"  says  Mr.  Simonds,  the 
president  of  the  society,  "  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth." 

The  Dayton  Philharmonic  Society  was  organized  in  1874,  and 
has  achieved  a  decided  success.  The  Mozart  IMusical  and  Liter- 
ary Society  was  organized  in  1888.  There  are  also  the  Harmonia, 
the  Young  INIen's  Christian  Association  Orchestra,  ]\Iaennerchor, 
and  other  musical  societies. 

The  Woman's  Literary  Club  of  Dayton  was  organized  in  1889. 
It  has  a  limited  membership,  meets  in  the  Woman's  Christian 
Association  parlors,  and  has  been  a  pronounced  success  from 
the  first  da5^  A  number  of  other  woman's  clubs  have  since 
been  formed  —  the  "H.H."  Club,  organized  in  1891,  the  Friday 
Afternoon  and  Emerson  clubs  of  more  recent  date. 

The  Present  Day  Club,  formed  in  Januarj^  1895,  is  an  organ- 
ization composed  of  about  three  hundred  representative  men, 
who  spend  an  evening  every  two  weeks  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  year  in  the  discussion  of  important  topics  relating  to 
social,  literary,  educational,  religious,  economic,  and  other 
problems. 

In  1885  Professor  J.  A.  Robert  began  the  improvement  of  the 
land  along  the  western  levee,  and,  by  filling  and  protecting  it 
from  the  river  by  a  fine  wall,  has  added  a  beautiful  street  to  the 
city  from  Monument  Avenue  to  Fifth  Street,  finished  in  July, 
1887. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1892,  the  Columbian  Centennial  was 
appropriately  celebrated  in  Dayton  by  an  imnien.se  procession 
of  military  and  civil  societies,  school-children,  and  industrial 
exhibits,  followed  by  appropriate  addresses  and  music  in  Cooper 
Park. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  Daj- ton  have  long  been  prom- 
inent. There  has  been  a  steady  and  substantial  growth  in  the 
number  and  size  of  manufacturing  establishments,  until  in  1894, 
according  to  the  report  of  the  State  Labor  Statistician,  the  city 
ranked  as  the  third  in  the  State  in  number  of  industries,  capital 
invested,  and  wages  paid,  and  fourth  in  the  value  of  its  manu- 


From  a  photograph  by   Wolfe. 

SYNAGOGUE  OF  THE  JESHUREN  CONGREGATION. 


DAYTON   ]?ROM    1840  TO    1 896  197 

factured  products.  Many  of  its  establishments  are  very  large, 
some  employing  from  one  to  two  thousand  persons,  and  a  number 
of  them  are  known  in  almost  every  part  of  the  globe. 

The  stores,  banks,  building-associations,  insurance  companies, 
and  other  branches  of  trade  conduct  a  large  amount  of  business, 
and  rank  high  in  the  commercial  world. 

Within  the  last  few  years  a  complete  sewer  system  has  been 
projected  and  largely  finished,  and  the  principal  streets  of  the 
city  have  been  handsomely  paved  with  asphalt,  brick,  sandstone, 
and  granite  ;  and  many  of  the  residence  streets  have  been  parked 
by  narrowing  the  roadway  and  making  lawns  along  the  borders 
of  the  sidewalks.  These  improvements,  together  with  the  large 
number  of  shade-trees  which  abound  in  the  city,  make  the 
streets  very  attractive. 

In  1889  natural  gas  was  introduced  in  Dayton  for  fuel  purposes. 
Although  not  sufilciently  plenty  to  supply  many  factories,  it  has 
proved  a  great  convenience  to  housekeepers. 

Dayton,  since  the  earliest  days,  has  seldom  been  left  for  any 
length  of  time  without  a  newspaper.  The  Joitrfial  was  descended 
from  a  long  line  of  plucky  ventures.  It  was  a  Republican  paper, 
ably  conducted  after  1835  by  the  Comlys.  It  had  been  a  weekly  and 
a  triweekly,  and  in  1847  became  a  daily,  and  as  such  has  continued 
to  the  present  day,  with  a  short  interregnum  after  the  burning  of 
the  ofl&ce,  presses,  and  materials  by  a  mob  in  May,  1863.  Soon 
after  this  Major  William  D.  Bickham  took  charge  of  and  made 
the  Journal  into  a  paper  of  national  reputation.  Mr.  Bickham 
was  a  bold  and  brilliant  writer,  an  astute  and  enthusiastic  politi- 
cian, a  man  whose  death,  in  1894,  left  a  vacancy  in  political  and 
newspaper  circles  difiicult  to  fill.  The  Journal  is  now  conducted 
by  the  sons  of  Mr.  Bickham, 

In  1842  the  Democratic  party  in  Dayton  was  represented  by  the 
Weslern  Empire.  Some  years  later  the  Daily  E7?ipire  was  pub- 
lished irregularly,  finally  becoming  a  regular  evening  paper.  It 
was  continued  until  1863,  when  the  editor  was  arrested  and  the 
paper  suppressed  because  of  an  article  which  it  published  in 
regard  to  the  arrest  of  Vallandigham.  A  new  paper  was  soon 
started,  and  has  continued  to  the  present  day  under  the  titles 
of  Daily  Ledger,  Herald,  Herald  and  Empire,  Democrat,  and 
Times. 

The  News  is  an  afternoon  daily  issued  from  the  same  office  as 
the  Times. 


198  DAVTON   FROM    1S4O   TO    1S96 

The  Volks-Zcifinig,  started  in  1866,  lias  always  been  an  inde- 
pendent paper. 

The  Daily  Herald  was  started  in  1879  as  an  independent 
journal. 

The  Press,  first  issued  in  1891,  is  a  Republican  afternoon  paper. 

Including  the  above,  there  are  published  in  the  city  seventeen 
secular  and  thirty-two  religious  periodicals,  making  a  total  of 
forty-nine  periodical  publications. 

Among  the  men  whose  active  business  life  made  them  well 
known  in  the  3'ears  preceding  and  following  the  War  were  several 
Viho  should  be  mentioned  at  length  in  the  history  of  these 
periods.  The  eldest  of  these  was  David  Stout,  who  came  to 
Dayton  in  1S12.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
seventeen  years  old  when  he  became  a  citizen  of  the  growing 
town.  He  soon  engaged  in  business  for  himself,  and  for  nearly 
half  a  century  was  actively  interested  in  various  lines  of  busi- 
ness, being  the  first  man  in  the  cit}-  to  engage  in  the  sale  of 
stoves.  He  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  Town  Council,  for 
twenty  years  treasurer  of  the  town  and  of  the  School  Board,  a 
director  of  the  Cooper  Cotton  Factory  and  Dayton  Carpet  Com- 
pan}',  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  first  public  light  company, 
treasurer  of  the  Daj'ton  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Company,  and 
a  stockholder  in  the  Woodland  Cemetery  Association.  On  the 
corner  where  the  Atlas  Hotel  now  stands  he  built  one  of  the 
first  brick  residences  in  Dayton,  which  remained  unaltered  until 
1892.  In  1839  he  moved  into  his  new  home  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Second  and  Perry  streets,  where  he  dispensed  a  liberal 
hospitality  during  the  Harrison  convention  in  1840,  and  in  1842, 
at  the  Henry  Clay  convention,  entertained  one  hundred  and 
eight  guests  over  night  and  man}'  more  at  dinner.  David  Stout 
was  remarkable  for  his  kindness  and  benevolence  to  individuals. 
He  had  eight  children  and  numerous  descendants,  many  of 
whom  now  live  in  the  city.  Three  of  the  children  are  now  living 
and  reside  in  Dayton  —  Elias  R.,  Atlas  L.,  and  David  Orion. 

Another  pioneer  in  prominent  business  enterprises  of  the  cit}^ 
when  once  it  began  to  extend  its  operations,  was  Mr.  Ebenezer 
Thresher,  one  of  the  first  manufacturers  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments and  of  railroad  cars.  INIr.  Thresher  had  been  born  and 
brought  up  in  Connecticut,  receiving  an  extended  education 
and  entering  the  ministry  in  New  England.  Failing  health 
compelled  him  to  relinquish  other  plans,  and  led  him  in  1845  to 


DAYTON  FROM    1840  TO   1 896  I99 

come  west  to  engage  in  business.  With  Mr.  E.  E.  Barney  and 
Mr.  Packard,  he  organized  in  1S49  the  firm  of  Thresher,  Packard 
&  Company,  manufacturers  of  agricultural  machinery,  and  soon 
after  of  railroad  cars.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  "  Car 
Works"  w^hich  have  helped  to  make  Dayton  known  through- 
out the  world.  In  1854  INIr.  Thresher  retired,  founding  later  his 
varnish  business.  During  the  remainder  of  his  long  life,  which 
continued  till  1886,  he  was  prominent  in  religious  and  educa- 
tional circles,  especially  in  the  enterprises  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
of  which  he  had  always  been  an  influential  member.  Two  sons 
and  two  daughters  are  still  residents  of  the  cit}'. 

Much  of  the  history  of  banking  in  Dayton  centers  around  the 
name  of  Mr.  Valentine  Winters.  Mr.  Winters  came  to  Dayton 
from  Germantown  in  1825,  and  was  employed  in  the  dry-goods 
store  of  Andrew  Irwin,  and  later  with  Harshman  &  Rench,  in 
which  firm  he  soon  became  a  partner.  He  was  prominent  in  the 
commercial  circles  of  Da^-ton  for  a  half-century,  conducting  at 
first  a  dry-goods  and  general  merchandise  store,  and  afterward 
engaging  in  banking.  He  was  cashier  of  the  Dayton  Bank, 
organized  in  1845,  and  afterward  was  one  of  the  proprietors  in 
the  banks  of  Harshman,  Winters  &  Company,  V.  Winters  & 
Son,  and  the  Winters  National  Bank.  Mr.  Winters  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  board  of  directors  of  the  Dayton  &  Western 
Railroad,  and  with  his  partners,  Jonathan  Harshman  and  E.  F. 
Drake,  constructed  the  first  railroad  in  Minnesota,  connecting 
St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis.  In  1839  ^^  was  foreman  of  the  Safety 
Engine  and  Hose  Company.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  he 
was  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  Government,  and  gave  the  assist- 
ance of  his  bank  to  the  support  of  the  finances  of  the  State  and 
Nation.  ]Mr.  Winters  was  a  member  of  the  Third  Street  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  gave  liberally  to  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  and  Woman's  Christian  Association.  In  1829 
he  married  Catharine  Harshman,  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Harsh- 
man, and  had  eleven  children, — four  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
—  a  number  of  whom,  with  their  descendants,  still  live  in  the 
city. 

Another  figure  well  known  on  our  streets  for  nearlj^  forty  years 
was  Mr.  Frederick  Gebhart.  Mr.  Gebhart  came  to  Daj-ton  from 
Pennsylvania  in  1838,  being  then  forty  years  of  age.  He  was 
soon  after  followed  by  his  brothers  Herman  and  George,  whose 
business  interests  were  closely  allied  to  their  brother's.     In  1839 


200  DAYTON   FROM    1S40  TO    1S96 

Mr.  Gebhart  opened  a  dry-goods  store,  removing  a  little  later  to 
the  building  on  Third  Street  so  long  occupied  by  his  successors, 
D.  L.  Rike  &  Company.  After  a  number  of  years  he  entered  the 
linseed  oil  business,  and  until  his  death  in  1878  was  interested 
in  enterprises  which  would  add  to  the  prestige  of  the  city.  The 
descendants  of  these  three  brothers  form  one  of  the  large  and 
influential  families  of  the  city. 

No  history  of  Dayton  would  be  complete  that  had  not  much 
to  say  of  Robert  W.  Steele.  Quiet  student  though  he  w^as,  he 
touched  the  life  of  the  place  on  every  side,  for  he  was  a  lover  of 
men  and  of  books,  of  his  country  and  home.  He  was  born  in 
1819  to  a  life  of  ease  and  all  honorable  traditions.  He  was  the 
son  of  an  earnest,  self-reliant  pioneer,  w'ho  had  been  a  merchant, 
a  soldier  when  needed,  trustee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  of 
Miami  Universitj',  and  of  the  Da3-ton  Academy,  one  of  the 
founders  of  Woodland  Cemetery,  president  of  the  Dayton  Bank 
for  nearly  forty  years,  a  judge  for  fourteen  years,  one  of  those 
chosen  to  cast  the  electoral  vote  of  Ohio  for  Clay,  and  who  had 
died  in  the  midst  of  a  busy,  active  career.  This  was  the  example 
which  the  past  gave  to  the  young  man  who  w-as  met  at  the 
threshold  of  manhood  by  the  knowledge  that  such  a  life  could 
not  be  his.  He  was  prohibited  by  his  physician  from  continuing 
the  study  of  law.  If  he  could  not  practice  his  profession,  could 
not  do  his  own  work  as  he  had  planned,  "Very  well,"  he  said  to 
himself  quietly  and  bravel}'-,  "I  shall  help  others  to  do  theirs"; 
and  this,  I  take  it,  was  the  key-note  to  his  life — he  was  a  helper. 

"Whoever  thou  art  whose  need  is  great, 
In  the  name  of  the  all-compassionate  and  mercHul  One  I  wait." 

Men  and  women  went  to  the  quiet  study  where  he  loved  to 
sit,  with  books  climbing  the  walls  around  him,  and  usually 
came  away  comforted.  The  teachers  learned  to  come, — the 
pupils,  too, — for  he  w^as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education 
for  thirty  years,  and  its  president  for  twelve  of  them.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Library  Association,  and  for  years 
director  and  president.  When  the  association  was  united  with 
the  Public  Library,  he  was  chairman  of  the  Library  Committee 
until  he  resigned  in  1875.  Later  he  became  a  member  of  the 
reorganized  Library  Board,  and  serv-ed  until  his  death.  His  love 
for  books  was  the  enthusiasm  of  his  life.  The  feeling  that  other 
men  put  into  business  and  professions  he  lavished  upon  these 


DAYTON   PROM    1840   TO    1 896  20I 

quiet  friends.  He  knew  a  good  book  by  instinct,  was  a  fine 
critic,  and  a  writer  himself,  having  done  considerable  work  for 
newspapers,  and  published  numerous  essays,  and  histories  of 
the  library,  cemetery,  public  schools,  and  early  Dayton. 

He  was  member  and  treasurer  or  president  of  every  horticul- 
tural society  of  Dayton,  as  well  as  the  Ohio  State  Board  of 
Agriculture.  He  was  interested  in  the  early  railroads  centering 
in  Dayton,  and  a  subscriber  to  the  stock  of  all  of  them  but  one. 

When  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  came,  he  felt  deeply.  Loving 
his  country  as  he  did,  he  served  it  well.  If  he  could  not  fight 
himself,  he  could  help  the  soldiers  in  a  hundred  ways;  he  could 
care  for  the  wives  and  children  at  home,  and  uphold  the  Govern- 
ment through  the  darkest  days.  He  served  on  the  Military 
Committee  of  Montgomery  County,  was  a  member  of  the  San- 
itary Committee,  and  chairman  of  a  Citizens'  Committee. 

No  reform  or  change  for  the  better  in  his  native  city  ever 
lacked  the  hearty  sympathy  and  cordial  support  of  Robert 
Steele.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Third  Street  Presbyterian  Church 
for  forty  years.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Woodland  Cemetery 
Association,  and  its  president  when  he  died.  He  served  five 
years  as  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Charities. 

When  death  laid  its  touch  on  that  kindly  heart  to  still  it,  and 
men  sorrowed  to  know  they  should  meet  that  quaint  figure  no 
more ;  when  he  lay  asleep  in  the  dear  old  home  his  father  had 
built,  and  was  carried  over  its  threshold  to  the  Woodland  they 
had  both  tended  and  cared  for, — who  could  say  now  which  of 
the  two  men  had  done  more  for  humanity  ? 


CHAPTER  XI 

DAYTON  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

The  Opening  of  the  "War— Fall  of  Sumter— Recruiting— Dayton  Light 
Guards  — Light  Artillery— Lafayette  Guards — Departure  of  Troops- 
Anderson  Guards  — Dayton  Riflemen  — Zouave  Rangers  — Buckeye  Guard 
—State  Guard  —  Camp  Corwin  — Camp  Day  ton — Familiesof  Soldiers  Cared 
For  —  Advancing  Kirby  Smith  —  R.  C.  Schenck  Elected  to  Congress  —  Union 
League  Formed  —  Arrest  of  Vallandigham — Jow-nal  Office  Burned — Mor- 
gan's Raid —  Colonel  King  —  Empire  Office  Mobbed  —  Procession  of  Wood- 
Wagons— Women's  Work  for  the  Soldiers— The  Home-Guard  — Return  of 
Companies  A  and  E— Another  Call  for  Troops  — Last  Draft  of  the  War  — 
Lee's  Surrender— Assassination  of  Lincoln  — Admiral  Schenck  — Rear- 
Admiral  Greer  — Paymaster  McDaniel— Ivational  Military  Home— Sol- 
diers' Monument. 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion  did  not  come  upon  tlie  country  like 
a  sudden  summer  shower.  The  great  clouds  gathered  slowly, 
and  hung  dark  and  menacing  long  before  the  storm  broke.  There 
were  enough  men  of  both  parties  in  Daj-ton  who  had  accepted 
the  decision  of  the  people  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  make 
it  a  cit}^  sternly  loj-al  and  practicall}'  helpful  to  the  Government, 
yet  there  were  also  many  firm  in  their  devotion  to  States'  rights 
and  bitter  in  their  opposition  to  the  war ;  and  the  Third  Ohio 
District  was  represented  by  a  man  who  had  proclaimed  as  his 
position  that  ' '  if  any  one  or  more  of  the  States  of  the  Union 
should  at  any  time  secede,  for  reasons  of  the  sufiicienc}'  and 
justice  of  which  before  God  and  the  great  tribunal  of  history 
they  alone  may  judge,  much  as  I  should  deplore  it,  I  never 
would,  as  a  Representative  in  Congress,  vote  one  dollar  of  money 
whereby  one  drop  of  American  blood  should  be  shed  in  a  civil 
war."  So  there  was  a  season  of  suspense;  the  people  waited 
with  bated  breath;  men  eyed  one  another  with  grave  distrust. 
With  Soitthern  confidence  at  its  height,  and  Northern  courage 
at  its  lowest  point,  Mr.  Lincoln  began  his  journe}'  to  Washing- 
ton. The  people,  waiting  for  a  sign,  watched  the  quiet  progress, 
read  the  tender  words  to  the  South,  the  strong  and  temperate 
inaugural,  and  of  the  refusal  to  recognize  the  Southern  commis- 

202 


DAYTON   IN   THE    CIVIL   WAR  203 

sioners.  They  also  read  events,  and  began  to  see  the  patience 
and  self-control,  the  grand  courage  and  wisdom,  of  their  leader, 
who,  as  is  now  clear,  "came  as  one  appointed  to  a  great  dut}',  not 
with  rashness,  not  with  weakness,  not  with  bravado,  nor  shrink- 
ing, but  in  the  perfect  confidence  of  a  just  cause,  and  with  the 
stainless  conscience  of  a  good  man." 

When  Sumter  fell,  the  excitement  in  Dayton  was  painful  in  its 
intensit3'.  The  people  were  full  of  just  wrath,  and  eager  to 
avenge  the  insult  to  the  flag.  If  there  was  a  citizen  who  had 
not  heard  the  news,  he  read  it  in  the  morning  paper  with  the 
proclamation  calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  men  beside  it. 
Recruiting  was  begun  at  once.  Four  days  later  three  companies 
were  starting  for  Columbus  —  the  Dayton  lyight  Guards,  Captain 
Pease;  Light  Artiller}^  Captain  Childs,  and  the  Lafayette  Guards, 
Captain  Deister,  marching  to  the  train  through  great,  cheering 
crowds,  anxious  to  show  that  for  once  all  w^ere  united  to  defend 
the  country.  The  men  who  had  been  lo3'al  by  reason  of  intelli- 
gence, judgment,  and  expediency  experienced  a  new  feeling  as 
the  hot  wave  of  enthusiasm  swept  over  the  land.  On  the  i8th 
of  April  Colonel  E.  A.  King  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of 
the  camp  at  Columbus.  On  the  same  day  the  Anderson  Guards 
opened  recruiting  lists.  By  the  next  night  sixty-four  men  had 
enrolled  and  the  company  organized  and  left  the  next  morning. 
The  streets  were  crowded  with  people,  singing  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  cheering  and  waving  handkerchiefs  and 
flags  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  there  were  tears  among  the 
women  as  they  took  up  their  heavy  task  of  watching  and 
waiting  and  working.  The  men  filed  out  of  the  armory  through 
the  shouting  crowd,  and  soon  another  hundred  had  gone,  mak- 
ing almost  five  hundred  men  (four  hundred  and  eighty-five)  in 
answer  to  the  first  call  for  three  months'  volunteers. 

Upon  their  arrival  at  Columbus,  the  first  three  Dayton  com- 
panies were  assigned  to  the  First  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantr3^  This  regiment  was  ordered  and  started  to  Washington 
April  19,  had  its  first  fight  at  Vienna,  and  covered  itself  with 
glory  at  Bull  Run.  The  Dayton  Rifiemen  and  Anderson  Guards 
were  ordered  to  Camp  Jackson,  and  later  assigned  to  the  Eleventh 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  and  sent  to  help  construct  Camp  Den- 
nison,  where  they  were  kept  drilling  for  six  or  seven  weeks. 

In  June  Company  A  (the  Riflemen)  reenlisted  for  three  years. 
Part  of  Company  G  reenlisted  and  part  returned  to  Dayton. 


204  DAYTON   FROM    184O  TO    1896 

These  were  Inis}-,  unselfish  days  for  those  at  home.  The  doc- 
tors offered  their  services  free  to  families  of  volunteers,  and  the 
druggists  offered  to  fill  prescriptions  without  charge.  The  sum 
of  five  thousand  dollars  was  quickl}^  raised  for  immediate  wants. 
The  Board  of  County  Commissioners  and  the  City  Council  each 
appropriated  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  soldiers'  families. 
Other  large  sums  of  money  were  constantly  coming  in.  All 
sorts  of  donations  were  made.  The  ladies'  societies  went  to  work 
with  a  will.  No  one  was  too  old  or  too  young  to  work  in  some 
wa}'. 

The  Zouave  Rangers  tendered  their  services  as  a  home-guard, 
were  accepted,  and  served  for  three  months.  The  Buckeye 
Guard  was  in  camp  at  Hamilton  for  a  few  weeks,  came  back  to 
fill  up  their  regiment  for  three  j-ears'  service,  and  returned  within 
ten  days.  Captain  Gunckel  raised  a  compan}^  which  was 
ordered  to  Camp  Dennison  INIay  19.  On  the  226.  of  April,  at 
Harrisburg,  Lieutenant  A.  ]\IcD.  INIcCook,  of  the  Regular  Army, 
was  elected  colonel  of  the  First  Ohio  Regiment,  E.  A.  Parrott 
lieutenant-colonel,  and  Captain  J.  S.  Hughes  major.  On  the 
evening  of  May  11  the  people  were  listening  to  the  farewell 
concert  of  the  Regimental  Band,  who  were  to  be  thereafter 
musicians  of  the  First  Ohio  Regiment. 

Immediately  after  the  departure  of  the  three  months'  troops  in 
April,  militia  companies  were  formed.  Each  ward  had  its  com- 
pany of  home-guards.  There  was  also  the  State  Guard,  composed 
of  men  over  forty-five  j^ears  of  age. 

Through  the  summer  of  1861  Dayton  was  full  of  soldiers. 
Little  else  was  thought  of  Camp  Corwin  was  located  two  and  a 
half  miles  east  of  the  city.  On  the  23d  of  August  the  first  three 
companies  of  the  First  Ohio,— Dayton  men,— and  a  little  later 
the  Dayton  Cavalry,  were  ordered  there.  On  August  20  a  com- 
pany marched  in  from  the  northern  part  of  the  county  and 
camped  in  the  Fair  Grounds.  In  October  the  Government  gave 
notice  that  it  could  not  furnish  blankets  for  the  First  Ohio.  In 
a  week  they  had  been  provided  by  the  citizens  of  Dayton  and  the 
regiment  was  on  its  way  to  join  General  INIcCook's  brigade  and 
Camp  Corwin  was  abandoned.  During  the  month  of  August 
there  were  fourteen  recruiting  ofiices  opened  in  Dayton.  By  the 
29th  of  the  month  Dayton  had  sent  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  men  to  the  front,  out  of  an  enrollment  of  three 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventeen. 


GENERAIi  KOBEKT  C.  SCHEJSTCK. 


DAYTON   IN   THE    CIVIL   WAR  205 

It  is  not  possible  in  a  few  pages  to  follow  all  the  Dayton 
soldiers  through  the  war.  Wherever  brave  men  were  needed 
they  went  gladl}^  and  saw  their  share  of  service  in  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  later  on  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  moun- 
tains of  Virginia,  with  Grant  before  Richmond,  with  Thomas  at 
Nashville,  and  marching  through  Georgia  with  Sherman. 

The  year  1862  was  a  dark  one  for  the  national  cause.  Recruit- 
ing for  the  Ninety-third  began  in  July  of  that  j-ear.  In  it  were 
four  Da3'ton  companies.  Charles  Anderson  became  the  colonel 
and  Hiram  Strong  lieutenant-colonel.  Great  interest  was  felt  in 
this  regiment  in  Dayton.  Ten  thousand  dollars  were  raised  at 
one  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  July  as  a  fund  for  the  families  of 
volunteers.  The  rendezvous  for  the  Ninetj'^-third  was  Camp 
Da3'ton,  afterwards  located  at  the  Fair  Grounds.  The  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Lexington,  Kentuck}-,  and  left  Dayton  August 
23.  In  September  the  camp  rapidl}'  filled  up,  and  it  was  again 
necessary  to  suppl}'  the  soldiers  with  blankets  and  clothing. 
There  were  also  at  that  time  five  hundred  families  of  volunteers 
dependent  partly  or  entirely  upon  the  public  for  means  of  sup- 
port. 

The  advance  of  Kirby  Smith  towards  Cincinnati  thoroughly 
aroused  Dayton.  The  Governor  called  out  the  militia  of  the  river 
counties.  All  armed  men  who  could  be  in  readiness  by  the  4th 
of  September  would  be  accepted  b}'  General  Wallace.  Dayton 
was  urged  to  send  to  Cincinnati  b}^  that  day  every  man  who 
could  get  awa3^  In  answer  to  these  appeals,  each  ward  raised 
at  least  one  company  for  the  defense  of  the  State.  INIen  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  State,  with  all  kinds  of  arms,  and  in  all 
sorts  of  dress,  so  that  tliej^  were  called  the  "Squirrel-Hunters." 
Kirby  Smith  retreated  southward,  and  these  soldiers  never  knew 
what  they  might  have  done.  One  effect  of  this  rush  of  citizen 
soldiers  to  the  front  was  the  postponement  of  the  draft  which 
had  been  ordered,  first  to  the  middle  of  September,  then  to  the 
ist  of  October,  b}-  which  time  Daj'ton  had  been  able  to  fill  up 
her  quota. 

The  next  excitement  was  over  the  election  to  Congress  of 
General  Robert  C.  Schenck  from  the  Third  Ohio  District. 

A  Union  League  was  formed  in  Dayton  in  March,  1863.  Much 
had  been  done  in  Daj'ton  since  the  war  began  for  the  support  of 
the  families  of  the  soldiers.  All  sorts  of  entertainments  were 
given  and  money  was  raised  in  ever}^  possible  wa}'.     The  various 


206  UAYTON   FROM    184O   TO    1S96 

ladies'  aid  societies  did  noble  work  through  the  winters  of  1S62 
and  1863.  In  April,  1863,  there  was  an  immense  procession  into 
Dayton  of  farm  wagons  loaded  with  wood  and  provisions  brought 
bj'  the  fanners  as  their  donation  to  the  relief  committee  for  the 
soldiers'  families. 

On  the  5th  of  Ma}',  1863,  ]\Ir.  Vallandighani  was  arrested  by 
order  of  General  Burnside  and  taken  to  Cincinnati  to  be  tried 
by  a  military  commission  for  violation  of  "General  Order  No. 
38,"  in  which  occurred  this  statement:  "The  habit  of  declaring 
sympathy  for  the  enemy  will  no  longer  be  tolerated  in  this 
department.  Persons  committing  such  offenses  will  at  once  be 
arrested  with  a  view  to  being  tried  as  above  stated,  or  sent 
beyond  our  lines  into  the  lines  of  their  friends.  It  must  be 
distinctly  understood  that  treason,  expressed  or  implied,  will 
not  be  tolerated  in  this  department."  The  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham  ensued,  and  it  was  followed  the  next  night  by  the  burn- 
ing of  the  Jo2cr?ial  office  by  a  mob.  Dayton  was  at  once  placed 
under  martial  law  by  order  of  General  Burnside,  and  remained 
so  until  the  21st  of  J  vine. 

Each  ward  of  the  city  was  divided  on  the  9th  of  July  into  three 
districts,  each  of  which  was  obliged  to  organize  a  company  of 
militia. 

If  there  was  a  man  in  Dayton  who  had  not  felt  a  personal 
interest  in  the  war,  he  must  have  come  to  his  senses  when  told 
on  July  13  that  General  Morgan  was  within  a  day's  march  of 
the  cit}'.  ]\Iartial  law  was  at  once  proclaimed  by  the  IMaj-or. 
All  of  the  original  militia  was  called  out  by  the  Governor  and 
ordered  to  Camp  Dennison.  Dayton  sent  two  companies.  IMajor 
Keith  started  at  midnight  for  Hamilton  with  two  companies  of 
infantr}'.  Such  other  citizens  as  had  horses  and  guns  organized 
as  scouts  to  patrol  the  roads.  The  six  months'  cavalr}'  recruits 
went  in  pursuit  of  and  captured  fifteen  of  the  raiders.  The  men 
at  home  threw  out  pickets  and  patroled  the  surrounding  country. 
As  it  happened,  Morgan's  men  did  not  come  near  Da3'ton  until 
the  27th  of  the  month,  when  six  car-loads  of  them  passed  through 
the  city  as  prisoners. 

Colonel  King,  a  gallant  soldier  of  two  wars,  who  was  killed 
while  commanding  a  brigade  in  the  second  da3''s  battle  of  Cliicka- 
mauga,  and  whose  body,  lashed  to  a  caisson,  had  been  brought 
from  the  field  by  his  soldiers,  was  buried  from  his  home  in 
Davton  with  military'  honors  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1864. 


DAYTON   IX   the;    CIVIL   WAR  207 

During  the  early  months  of  1864  most  of  the  regiments  in 
which  Da3-ton  men  had  enlisted  reenlisted  for  three  years  longer 
and  were  at  home  on  furloughs.  An  incident  about  this  time 
was  the  mobbing  of  the  Empire  oflSce  by  a  few  soldiers  at  home 
on  leave.  On  the  nth  of  INIay  another  draft  occurred.  Dayton 
had  filled  her  quota  excepting  in  one  ward.  Before  the  men 
were  ordered  to  report,  that  ward  also  secured  the  requisite  num- 
ber of  recruits. 

There  was  another  grand  procession  of  wood-wagons  in  Octo- 
ber, 1863.  They  brought  in  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  loads 
of  wood  and  fifty-six  wagons  of  farm  produce.  The  boys  of 
Dayton  organized  companies  to  saw  and  split  the  wood  for  the 
soldiers'  families.  In  the  fall  of  1863  preparations  began  for  a 
grand  soldiers'  fair  by  all  the  ladies'  aid  societies.  It  was 
opened  the  night  before  Christmas,  and  was  a  brilliant  success, 
artistically,  sociallj^,  and  financially.  The  total  receipts  amounted 
to  almost  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  first  days  of  the  war  the  women  took  up  their  task  with 
cheerful  enthusiasm.  Thej-  were  proud  and  smiling  when  the 
soldiers  marched  away  carr3-ing  the  banners  the}'  had  fashioned. 
They  made  shirts  and  pretty  pin-cushions,  held  fairs  and  bazaars, 
fed  the  hungr\'  troops  as  the\'  passed  through  the  cit}',  and  un- 
consciously made  out  of  the  early  days  of  impatient  waiting  and 
drilling  in  Camp  Da3'ton  bright  memories  for  camp-fires  and 
lonely  marches.  They  learned  to  do  without  mau}^  a  dear  face 
and  many  a  helping  hand.  But  when  the  call  came  to  be  for 
bandages  and  lint — when  the  talk  was  more  of  hospital  than 
of  camp — the  work  went  on,  but  it  was  often  done  in  the  shadow 
of  a  great  terror,  with  brave,  trembling  hands.  And  when  one 
soldier  after  another  came  home  to  die,  or  limping  back  on 
crutches,  or  with  an  empty  sleeve, — when  "killed"  was  written 
after  names  like  Strong,  King,  Bruen,  Forrer,  and  Birch,  the 
tragedy  of  war  stood  revealed. 

The  professional  and  business  men,  who  had  organized  as  a 
home-guard,  were  surprised  one  fine  morning  in  April  (the 
25tli),  1864,  to  find  themselves  under  orders  from  Governor 
Brough  to  take  the  field  for  one  hundred  da3-s.  Colonel  Lowe  at 
once  summoned  his  regiment  —  the  Second — to  rendezvous  at  the 
Fair  Grounds.  The  Twelfth  Regiment  was  called  to  the  same 
place.  They  left  Dayton  on  the  nth  and  12th  of  May  for  Camp 
Chase,  where  the  two  regiments  were  consolidated  under  Colonel 


2o8  DAYTON  FROM    184O  TO    1 896 

Lowe  and  ordered  to  Baltimore  for  garrison  duty  in  the  United 
States  forts  near  that  city.  After  three  months  of  faithful  service 
they  were  ordered  back  to  Camp  Chase,  and  mustered  oUt  on 
August  25. 

The  first  veterans  to  return  to  Dayton  after  three  years'  serv- 
ice were  Company  A,  Eleventh  Ohio,  and  Compan}'  E,  Twenty- 
fourth  Ohio  regiments.  They  came  June  27,  1864,  —  a  handful 
of  men,  but  their  welcome  home  was  an  ovation.  In  July  the 
President  called  for  five  hundred  thousand  volunteers.  On  the 
20th  of  the  month  Governor  Brough  called  for  twenty  new 
regiments  from  the  State  of  Ohio.  It  thus  again  became  the 
duty  of  Dayton  to  raise  her  quota.  Large  bovmties  were  offered, 
and  every  effort  made  to  avoid  a  draft ;  still  four  wards  failed  to 
secure  their  proportion.  After  the  draft  (September  21),  money 
was  raised  and  substitutes  enlisted.  On  the  19th  of  December 
the  President  called  for  three  hundred  thousand  more  men.  The 
bounties  offered  were  very  high,  and  enlistments  quite  brisk 
from  this  time.  The  quota  of  some  of  the  wards  not  being  quite 
full,  the  last  draft  of  the  war  was  made  March  30,  1865. 

Those  who  had  watched  through  dark  days  and  long,  stormy 
nights,  saw  the  clouds  beginning  to  break  and  the  tide  of  victory 
setting  in.  With  Farragut  in  Mobile  Bay,  Sherman  in  Atlanta, 
Grant  before  Richmond,  and  Sheridan  dashing  through  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  the  country  could  but  join  in  the  "high 
hope  for  the  future"  which  Mr.  Lincoln  guardedly  expressed  in 
his  second  inaugural  address.  It  had  been  long  years  since 
Dayton  had  dared  to  be  so  happy  as  on  the  night  of  April  9, 
when  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender  was  shouted  through  the 
streets  by  eager  voices,  and  carried  on  the  air  as  far  as  roaring 
cannon  and  ringing  bells  could  take  it.  The  war  was  over. 
Governor  Brough  set  aside  the  14th  of  the  month  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving.  This  was  grandly  celebrated  in  Dayton  by 
services  in  the  churches,  a  procession  containing  veterans  with 
their  tattered  flags,  and  by  fireworks  and  illuminations.  The 
next  morning  brought  the  news  that  Lincoln  was  shot.  The 
people  were  dumb  with  grief;  the  flags  that  had  flaunted  so 
proudly  the  day  before  now  hung  at  half-mast,  and  festoons  of 
black  took  the  place  of  gay  devices  on  public  and  private  build- 
ings. On  the  19th  of  the  month  religious  services  were  held  in 
honor  of  the  dead  President. 

Dayton  enlisted  very  few  men  for  the  navy,  but  she  has  some 


Frum  a  photograph  by  Appleton. 


THE  soldiers'    MONUMENT,   AND   APARTMENT    HOUSE  ON   THE  SITE  OF 

newcom's  tavern. 


►J 


DAYTON  IN  THE   CIVIL  WAR  209 

names  in  the  register  that  cannot  be  forgotten.  Admiral  James  F. 
Schenck — "the  old  Admiral,"  as  he  came  to  be  called  —  was  a 
unique  character.  He  entered  the  United  States  Nav}-  as  mid- 
shipman in  1825.  He  came  to  Dayton  in  1836,  and  bought  a  house 
for  his  family  on  the  corner  of  First  and  Lvidlow  streets,  an  old- 
fashioned,  comfortable  home,  where  the  children  came  to  play  in 
the  shady  garden,  rolling  down  the  hill  at  the  side,  or  Ij'ing  idle 
in  the  long  grass,  alwaj'S  undisturbed  and  quite  welcome.  When 
the  owner  came  from  a  cruise  in  the  West  Indies,  in  the  IMediter- 
ranean,  or  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  coast  of  Africa,  China, 
Japan,  or  Brazil,  the  little  front  yard  was  scarcely  large  enough 
for  the  friends  who  loved  to  gather  between  the  wide-open  door 
and  the  gate  that  never  shut  and  listen  through  long  summer 
evenings  to  tales  of  other  lands  and  people,  seen  with  shrewd 
e3^es  and  told  with  dry,  caustic  wit  in  original  and  characteristic 
language.  In  1845  Lieutenant  Schenck  joined  the  Congress,  on 
which  he  served  at  the  capture  of  Los  Angeles,  Santa  Barbara, 
and  San  Pedro,  California.  He  also  participated  in  the  capture 
of  Gua3'-mas  and  Mazatlan,  Mexico,  and  was  commended  for  effi- 
cient service  in  the  Mexican  War.  In  1862  Captain  Schenck  took 
command  of  the  frigate  St.  Lazvrence,  and  joined  the  blockading 
squadron  at  Key  West.  In  1864  Commodore  Schenck  hoisted  his 
flag  on  board  the  Powhatan  and  led  a  division  of  the  squadron  at 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Fisher.  He  was  made  rear-admiral  in 
1868,  and  placed  upon  the  retired  list  in  the  following  year. 
Admiral  Schenck  died  at  his  home  in  Dayton  on  the  21st  of 
December,   1882. 

Rear-Admiral  Greer,  who  retired  at  the  head  of  the  navy  in 
February,  1895,  was  a  Dayton  man  who  sailed  in  many  waters 
and  saw  many  lands,  from  Africa  to  Greenland,  from  China  to 
the  Mediterranean.  He  fought  through  the  war,  assisting  in  the 
removal  of  Mason  and  Slidell  from  the  Tre7it,  commanding  two 
ironclads  and  leading  a  division  of  Admiral  Porter's  squadron 
past  Vicksburg,  and  also  serving  on  the  Red  River  expedition. 

Paymaster  Charles  A.  INIcDaniel  died  in  Dayton  in  February, 
1894.  He  left  college  to  enter  the  army,  in  which  he  served 
through  the  early  years  of  the  war.  Later  he  entered  the  navj% 
in  which  he  had  made  an  honorable  record  and  man}^  friends, 
when  in  the  prime  of  life  he  faced  suffering  and  death  with  the 
patience  and  quiet  courage  of  a  brave  man. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  there  were  hospitals  in  many  of  the 

14 


2IO  DAYTON   FROM    1840  TO    1896 

large  cities  where  wounded  soldiers  received  the  tenderest  and 
most  skillful  care.  That  these  might  be  continued  on  a  broader, 
more  enduring  basis,  the  soldiers'  homes  were  devised  and  incor- 
porated under  an  act  of  Congress.  The  committee  appointed  by 
the  Board  of  Managers  to  select  a  site  for  the  Central  Branch 
reported  April  ii,  1867,  recommending  that  offered  by  Dayton. 
Dayton  was  decided  upon  and  four  hundred  acres  bought  about 
two  miles  west,  on  high  ground  overlooking  the  city,  the  citizens 
contributing  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  purchase.  By  De- 
cember, 1S67,  the  place  was  ready  for  occupation.  General 
Ingraham  being  detailed  as  acting  governor,  and  during  the  first 
year  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  disabled  soldiers  were 
cared  for.  The  first  gift  to  the  new  home  was  that  of  a  fine  library 
and  pictures  given  b}'  Mrs.  ]\Iary  Lowell  Putnam  in  memory 
of  her  son,  who  fell  at  Ball's  Bluff.  After  the  barracks  the  first 
necessity  was  a  hospital.  Year  by  year  handsome  buildings  were 
added,  new  land  was  bought,  and  the  grounds  artistically  laid 
out,  until  now  the  Home  is  not  only  fulfilling  its  mission  of 
grateful  and  loving  protection  of  disabled  soldiers,  but  has  also 
become  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  the  country.  It  is 
connected  with  Dayton  by  pleasant  drives  and  by  steam  and 
electric  roads.  The  Home  was  visited  last  j-ear  by  over  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people.  The  numlser  of  men  cared 
for  in  the  past  year  was  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine. 

The  Home  has  been  fortunate  in  its  governors  —  Colonel 
Brown,  whose  occasional  visits  are  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
men  who  were  under  his  care  for  3'ears;  General  Patrick,  who 
died  at  his  post,  like  the  grand  old  soldier  he  was ;  and  Colonel 
Thomas,  whose  administration  is  making  its  own  record  of  wise 
and  careful  management. 

The  homes  contain  more  inmates  and  are  more  needed  every 
year,  as  the  soldiers  of  thirty  years  ago  grow  to  be  old  men ; 
but  the  death-rate  also  increases,  the  ratio  of  deaths  per  thousand 
of  number  cared  for  being,  in  the  past  year,  47.65,  and  the  senti- 
nel on  the  beautiful  monument  in  the  cemetery  watches  over 
long  rows  of  head-boards  that  must  represent  regiments. 

Before  the  close  of  the  war  a  monument  in  Dayton  to  her 
fallen  heroes  was  talked  of.  Several  committees  were  appointed, 
but  it  was  not  until  after  the  organization  of  the  Old  Guard  that 
much  could  be  accomplished.     This  organization  of  veterans 


DAYTON  IN  THE   CIVIL  WAR  211 

made  a  valiant  effort.  Finallj',  it  was  suggested  that  a  law, 
raising  the  money  by  taxation,  might  be  secured  through  the 
Legislature,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  people.  General  T.  J. 
Wood,  who  was  himself  one  of  the  bravest  of  soldiers,  and  had 
led  his  men  through  many  bloody  battles,  who  felt  an  interest  in 
all  soldiers  and  in  his  adopted  city,  was  chairman  of  the  trustees. 
He,  assisted  by  Mr.  D.  B.  Corwin,  drafted  a  bill  which,  made 
more  general,  became  a  law  on  the  8th  of  April,  1881.  This  law 
was  endorsed  at  the  following  October  election.  The  contract 
was  awarded  in  June,  1883,  and  the  beautiful  monument  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Water  streets  (now  Monument  Avenue)  was 
dedicated  with  ceremony  on  the  occasion  of  the  soldiers'  and 
sailors'  reunion  on  the  last  day  of  July,  1S84,  as  "the  memorial 
of  Montgomery  County  to  her  soldiers." 


COLONEL  ISRAEL  LUDLOW  ^ 

Israel  Ludlow  was  born  at  Long  Hill,  Morris  County,  New 
Jersey,  in  1766.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Cornelius  Ludlow, 
who  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  a  New  Jersey  troop  in  the  War 
of  the  Revolution.  The  family  was  of  English  descent,  the 
ancestor  coming  from  Hill  Deverill,  in  Wilshire,  England,  to 
this  country  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  1787,  when  Mr.  Ludlow  was  twenty-one  or  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  he  received  the  following  letter  from  the  Surveyor- 
General  of  the  United  States  : 

"7<?  Israel  Ludlow,  Esq. 

' '  Dear  Sir  :  I  enclose  to  you  an  ordinance  of  Congress  of 
the  20th  inst.,  by  which  you  will  observe  they  have  agreed  to 
the  sale  of  a  large  tract  of  land  which  the  New  Jersey  Society 
have  contracted  to  purchase.  As  it  will  be  necessary  to  survey 
the  boundary  of  this  tract  with  all  convenient  speed,  that  the 
United  States  may  receive  the  payment  for  the  same,  I  propose 
to  appoint  3^ou  for  that  purpose,  being  assured  of  5'our  abilities, 
diligence,  and  integrity.  I  hope  you  will  accept  it,  and  desire 
that  you  will  furnish  me  with  an  estimate  of  the  expense,  and 
inform  me  what  moneys  will  be  necessary  to  advance  to  you  to 
enable  you  to  execute  the  same. 

"I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
"Yours, 

"Tho.  Hutchins, 
''Surveyor-General,  U.  S." 

He  accepted  his  appointment,  and  received  his  instructions  and 
an  order  on  the  frontier  post  for  a  sufficient  escort  to  enable  him 
to  prosecute  the  survey ;  but  the  extreme  weakness  of  the  mili- 

iMost  of  the  material  for  the  following  sketch  is  taken  from  a  memoir 
of  Charlotte  Chambers  (Mrs.  Israel  Ludlow),  written  by  her  grandson  Louis 
Garrard  in  18.56,  and  has  been  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  William  S.  Ludlow,  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  a  grandson  of  Colonel  Ludlow.  The  greater  portion  of 
"Early  Dayton  "  being  already  in  type  when  the  information  was  received, 
the  insertion  of  this  sketch  near  the  end  of  the  volume  was  made  necessary. 
The  prominence  of  Colonel  Ludlow  in  the  early  history  of  the  Miami  region 
as  well  as  in  the  founding  of  Dayton,  renders  the  account  here  given  espe- 
cially valuable.    It  is  regretted  that  no  portrait  of  the  Colonel  is  in  existence. 

213 


214  COLONEL  ISRAEL  LUDLOW 

tarj'  force  then  in  the  Northwest,  and  the  dangerous  duty  upon 
which  he  was  einplo3'ed,  caused  General  Ilarmar  to  write  that  he 
regretted  to  be  unable  to  compl}-  with  the  directions,  on  account 
of  the  small  force  at  his  command ;  and,  further,  that  if  he  were 
able  to  furnish  the  guards,  it  would  be  imprudent  for  Colonel 
Ludlow  to  go  into  the  countrj'  which  he  was  to  survey,  as  at  that 
time  there  were  large  numbers  of  Indians  hunting  there  at  that 
season,  and  that  the  survej-  would  have  to  be  deferred  until  the 
result  of  a  treaty  which  was  then  being  made  was  known.  This 
reply  was  sent  from  Fort  Harmar,  August  28,  1788. 

"The  survej'S  prescribed  by  the  instructions  of  Hutchins  in 
1787  were  prosecuted  notwithstanding  the  hostility  of  the  sav- 
ages and  the  deficiency  of  escort,  but  with  the  inevitable  delaj'' 
attending  the  movements  of  small  parties  where  precautions 
from  danger  so  materially  engross  the  attention." 

The  following  letter  to  General  Hamilton  explains  the  slow 
progress  of  the  surve}',  and  presents  in  a  striking  manner  scenes 
of  pioneer  exposure  and  hardship  : 

"Philadelphia,  May  5,  1792. 

"Sir:  The  unexpected  delays  that  have  attended  my  execut- 
ing the  surveys  of  the  Ohio  and  Miami  companies,  together  with 
your  letters  which  I  have  received  from  time  to  time,  urging  my 
speed}'  exertions  to  effect  the  business,  induces  me  to  explain  to 
you  the  cause  of  the  dela}-. 

"In  November,  1790,  I  was  honored  with  your  letter  of  in- 
struction at  this  place.  I  proceeded  immediatelj^  to  Fort  Har- 
mar, being  possessed  of  General  Knox's  letter  or  order  to  the 
commandant  for  an  escort.  On  my  waj-,  at  Fort  Pitt,  I  saw 
Major  Doughty,  who,  after  becoming  acquainted  with  my  busi- 
ness, informed  me  that  there  was  no  doubt  but  that  an  escort 
would  be  furnished  on  my  arrival  at  Fort  Harmar,  upon  which  I 
supplied  myself  with  chain-carriers  and  other  hands  necessarj-, 
packhorses,  corn,  provision,  and  camp  equipage  for  the  approach- 
ing cold  season. 

"On  my  arrival  at  Fort  Harmar  I  found  that  no  escort  could 
be  obtained.  Major  Zeigler,  who  commanded,  gave  me  his 
answer  in  writing,  which  was  that  he  did  not  consider  the  troops 
then  under  his  command  more  than  sufficient  to  guard  the  settle- 
ment of  INIarietta,  the  Indians  having  shortly  before  that  defeated 
and  broken  up  one  of  their  frontier  stations.  Of  course  he  could 
not  comply  with  the  order  of  General  Knox  and  ni}'  request.  ( A 
copy  of  that  letter  I  inclosed  to  3'ou.)  Upon  that  information, 
from  necessitj^  I  gave  up  the  pursuit  at  that  time,  and  proceeded 
to  Fort  Washington,  supposing  I  could  execute  the  Miami  survey. 

"Discharging  my  hired  men  and  packhorses,  I  applied  to 
General   Harmar    who  then  commanded,  for  protection   while 


colone;i,  ISRAEL  LUDLOW  215 

surveying-  the  Miami  tract.  He  informed  me  he  did  not  con- 
sider his  whole  command  a  sufficient  escort  for  mj^  purpose.  (A 
cop\'  of  his  answer  I  forwarded  to  you.)  On  the  arrival  of 
General  St.  Clair  in  May  following,  I  made  an  official  applica- 
tion for  fifteen  men  or  more,  should  it  be  convenient,  to  accom- 
pany me  as  an  escort  while  surveying  the  Miami  and  Ohio 
tracts.  He  assured  me  that  he  considered  the  execution  of  this 
survey  a  matter  of  the  highest  interest  and  importance  to  the 
United  States,  and  that  he  would  make  every  effort  to  assist  me 
with  a  sufficient  guard,  bvit  that  it  was  then  impracticable.  (  His 
letter  I  will  forward  to  you.)  Thus  the  business  was  again  put 
off  until  the  2otli  of  October  following,  when  I  was  favored  with 
the  services  of  fifteen  men,  commanded  by  a  sergeant,  with 
whom  I  proceeded  to  execixte  the  Ohio  Company's  survey.  I 
succeeded,  and  returned  to  Fort  Washington,  but  with  the  loss  of 
six  of  the  escort,  and  leaving  in  the  woods  all  my  packhorses 
and  their  equipage,  and  being  obliged  to  make  a  raft  of  logs  to 
descend  the  Ohio  as  far  as  Limestone  from  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Sandy  River. 

"On  m}' arrival  at  Fort  Washington  I  again  applied  for  pro- 
tection to  proceed  in  the  Miami  survey.  That  assistance  was 
refused  by  Major  Zeigler,  who  then  commanded.  (His  letter  I 
will  produce.)  My  reputation,  as  well  as  the  public  good,  being 
in  some  measure  affected  by  the  delay  of  the  business,  I  was  con- 
strained to  have  recourse  to  an  effort  which  my  instruction  did 
not  advise,  viz.  :  to  attempt  making  the  survey  by  the  aid  of 
three  active  woodsmen — to  assist  as  spies  and  give  notice  of  any 
approaching  danger.  My  attempts  proved  unsuccessful.  After 
extending  the  western  boundary  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
up  the  Miami  River,  the  deep  snows  and  cold  weather  rendered 
our  situation  too  distressing,  by  reason  of  my  men  having  their 
feet  frozen  and  unfit  to  furnish  game  for  supplies.  In  conse- 
quence, we  returned  to  Fort  Washington.  The  cold  weather 
abating,  I  made  another  attempt,  extending  the  east  boundary 
as  far  as  the  line  intersected  the  Little  INIiami  River,  where  we 
discovered  signs  of  the  near  approach  of  Indians,  and  having 
but  three  armed  men  in  compan}^  induced  me  to  return  again 
to  Fort  Washington,  which  I  found  commanded  by  General  Wil- 
kinson, to  whom  I  applied  for  an  escort,  which  was  denied  me. 
(His  letter  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  3-ou  with  the  others.) 

"I  now  have  the  satisfaction  to  present  to  3'ou  the  whole  of 
the  survey  of  the  Ohio  and  part  of  the  IVIiami  purchases,  exe- 
cuted agreeably  to  instructions.  Any  further  information  that 
may  be  required  respecting  the  causes  of  delay  of  the  above 
business,  I  prevSume  may  be  had  from  Generals  St.  Clair  and 
Harmar,  who  are  now  here  present. 

"I  am,  sir,  yours  respectfully, 

"Israel  Ludlow. 

"Hon.  Alex.  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasjiryy 


2l6  COLONEL  I.SRAEL  LUDLOW 

In  the  winter  of  1789  he  became  associated  with  Matthias  Den- 
ham  and  Robert  Patterson  in  the  proprietorship  of  the  future 
Cincinnati  to  the  extent  of  one-third  interest,  and  proceeded  to 
la}'  out  the  town.  In  September,  1794,  he  surve3-ed  the  plat  of  a 
town  adjacent  to  Fort  Hamilton,  and  was  sole  owner.  In  August, 
1795,  Generals  St.  Clair,  Wilkinson,  and  Dayton,  and  Colonel 
Ludlow  purchased  from  John  Cleves  Symmes  the  seventh  and 
eighth  ranges  of  land  between  the  two  Miamis,  including  the 
site  of  Dayton,  and  in  November  of  the  same  j^ear  Colonel 
Ludlow  laid  out  the  town  of  Dayton,  naming  it  after  one  of  his 
associates.  He  was  also  the  owner  of  a  large  extent  of  land  in 
the  vicinity,  on  the  banks  of  ]Mad  and  IMiami  rivers.  He  was 
commissioned  to  fix  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Indians  in  accordance  with  the  treaty  of  Greenville, 
made  b}'  General  Waj'ue  in  1795.     This  was  done  in  1797. 

Colonel  Ludlow  was  married  in  1796,  at  Chambersburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  Charlotte,  daughter  of  General  James  Chambers. 
His  death  occurred  at  his  residence,  at  that  time  a.short  distance 
outside  of  Cincinnati,  but  now  included  in  the  city,  January  20, 
1804,  when  he  was  but  thirty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  buried 
in  the  Presbyterian  burying-ground  at  Public  Square,  Cincinnati, 
which  was  bounded  by  Fourth,  Fifth,  Main,  and  Walnut  streets. 
Twice  his  remains  were  removed — for  the  second  and  last  time 
in  November,  1895,  and  were  then  interred  in  Spring  Grove  Cem- 
etery, which  had  once  been  a  part  of  his  countrj^'  residence. 

"The  shock  created  by  the  announcement  of  his  death  could 
be  understood  only  in  the  new  district,  where  the  sparseness  of 
population  and  community  of  interests  and  friendship  rendered 
conspicuous  a  valuable  man,  and  his  loss  deep-seated  and  seem- 
ingly irreparable.  The  inhabitants  joined  the  INIasonic  Fraternity 
in  paying  a  closing  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory.  An  ora- 
tion was  pronounced  by  the  Hon.  T.  Symmes." 

Mr.  Ludlow  was  not  permitted  to  witness  the  wonderful  results 
of  the  enterprise  to  the  forwarding  of  which  his  untiring  indus- 
try was  directed.  That  he  had  a  prescience  of  its  importance 
is  shown  by  his  large  entries  of  land,  now  noted  for  its  great 
fertility  and  value.  The  selection  of  town  sites  when  the  terri- 
tory was  an  unbroken  forest,  and  where  intimate  knowledge  of 
soil,  timber,  and  natural  outlet  of  country  is  necessary  to  eminent 
success,  entitles  him  to  no  little  credit  for  sound  judgment  and 
discriminating  foresight.     ]\Iodesty  was  a  well-known  trait  of 


.    COLONKL  ISRAEI,  LUDI^OW  217 

his  character.  With  an  eye  quick  to  discern,  and  energy  to  have 
applied,  every  measure  conducing  to  the  prosperity  of  the  ter- 
ritory and  city  whose  early  progress  was  the  adumbration  of 
speedy  greatness,  he  was  himself  indiflFerent  to  his  own  political 
advancement,  and  willing  to  wait  at  least  until  the  fulfillment 
of  his  present  plans.  Thus  it  is  that,  without  legislative  record 
of  the  facts,  his  name  is  not  known  in  a  manner  commensurate 
with  his  services  to  the  infant  colony  and  the  youthful  State. 
His  is  not  an  anomalous  case.  The  unwritten  history  of  every 
community  illustrates  the  point  that  the  most  valuable  men  are 
not  always,  and  indeed  but  seldom,  in  office.  Israel  I^udlow  was 
not  a  politician  in  the  clamorous  sense  of  the  term.  He  was  a 
man  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  atid  possessed  a  peculiar 
fitness  for  the  extended  sphere  of  his  influence.  The  absence 
of  such  men  in  the  necessitous  condition  of  a  struggling  settle- 
ment explains  the  cause  of  premature  decay  and  failure :  their 
presence  constitutes  the  mainspring  of  progress,  the  encouraging 
support  of  first  puny  effort,  until  accumulated  strength  affords 
the  power  of  self-propulsion.  He  lived  in  a  day  when  a  citizen 
found  in  the  extension  of  aid  to  the  impoverished  emigrant  and 
his  suffering  family  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  most 
generous  heart-impulses.  To  him  they  could  turn  as  a  safe 
adviser  and  a  substantial  friend  without  fear  of  neglect.  His 
life  was  illustrated  by  a  series  of  practical  benevolences,  free 
from  ostentation  and  the  laudation  of  scarcely  other  than  the 
recipients  of  his  disinterested  kindness. 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 


219 


Copyright,  1896 

By  W.  J.  Shuey,  Publisher 

All  rights  reserved 


220 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 


LOCATION  AND  AREA. 

Dayton,  the  county-seat  of  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  is  located  on  both 
banks  of  the  Great  Miami  River,  at  the  confluence  of  Stillwater,  Mad  River, 
and  "Wolf  Creek  with  the  Miami,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Miami  and  Erie 
Canal,  sixty  miles  north-northeast  of  Cincinnati,  and  seventy-one  miles  west 
by  south  of  Columbus.  Its  latitude  is  thirtj-nine  degrees  forty-four  minutes 
north,  and  its  longitude  is  eighty-four  degrees  eleven  minutes  west  from 
Greenwich,  or  seven  degrees  eleven  minutes  west  from  Washington.  It  is  an 
important  station  on  eleven  railroads,  which  belong  to  four  great  systems, 
namely :  The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  and  the  Daj'ton 
&  "Western,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lines;  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 
&  St.  Louis  and  the  Dayton  &  Union,  of  the  "Big  Four"  System;  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Hamilton  &  Dayton,  the  Dayton  &  Michigan,  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton 
&  Ironton,  and  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  Chicago,  of  the  C,  H.  &  D.  System; 
the  New  York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio,  of  the  Erie  System;  the  Dayton, 
Lebanon  &  Cincinnati  Railroad,  and  the  Home  Avenue  Railroad.  Thirty- 
six  hard-graveled  roads  radiate  in  all  directions  from  the  city,  with  an 
aggregate  length  of  over  six  hundred  miles.  The  extreme  dimensions  of 
Dayton  are:  eastand  west,  Ave  and  one-eighth  miles;  north  and  south,  three 
and  one-half  miles.    Its  area  is  about  ten  and  three-quarters  square  miles. 

POPULATION. 

1796 ....  About  36.  1840 ....  6,067.  1870 ....  30,473. 

1802 ....  Five  families.  1845 ....  9,792.  1880 ....  38,678. 

1810....  383.  1850....  10,976.  1890....  61,220. 

1820....  1,139.  1860....20,08L  1896.... About  80,000. 
1830....  2,954. 

CITY  GOVERNMENT  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 
(Compiled  from  latest  reports.) 


Elected  for  two  years;  ex  officio  president  of  Board  of  Police  Directors  and 
Board  of  Health,  and  organizes  the  City  Council;  appoints  the  Board  of  City 
Affairs,  the  Tax  Commission,  Board  of  "Work-House  Directors,  and  Board  of 
Elections. 

BOARD  OF  CITY  AFFAIRS. 

Four  members;  term  of  ofllce  four  years,  one  being  appointed  each  year 
by  the  Mayor;  powers  executive. 

221 


222  HISTORICAI^  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

CITY  COUNCIL. 

Sixteen  members,  elected  from  eight  wards  by  tlie  voters  of  the  wards; 
term  of  office  two  years,  half  expiring  each  year;  powers  legislative. 

Mciisures  involving  expenditure  and  public  franchises  must  be  approved 
by  both  City  Council  and  Board  of  City  AfTairs. 

BOA  KB  OF  ELECTIONS. 

Four  members,  appointed  by  tlio  Mayor,  one  secretary. 

BOAKl)   OF   EQT^'VLIZATION. 

Six  members,  elected  by  the  City  Council. 

3IISCELLANEOUS. 

City  clerk,  elected  by  the  Council;  treasurer,  elected  by  the  people;  comp- 
troller, solicitor,  engineer,  sealer  of  weights  and  measures,  market-master, 
superintendent  of  levees,  appointed  by  the  Board  of  City  AflTairs;  wood- 
measurer,  elected  by  the  people. 

PUBLIC  .SCHOOLS. 

Board  of  Education.— fi\-s.teen  members,  elected  for  two  years  from  eight 
wards  by  the  voters  of  the  wards,  half  being  elected  each  year. 

Officers  and  Teacheis. —  Clerk,  superintendent  of  instruction,  superintend- 
ent of  buildings,  truant  officer,  city  board  of  examiners  with  three  members, 
twenty  principals,  twenty-five  High  School  teachers,  three  Normal  School 
teachers,  two  Manual-Training  School  teachers,  four  special  teachers,  251 
district-school  teachers;  total  number  of  teachers,  305. 

Enumeration  of  School  Youth  ( Between  six  and  twenty-one  years  of  age). — 
Public  schools,  10,960;  private  schools,  210;  church  schools,  2,102;  not  attend- 
ing, 7,276;  grand  total,  20,578. 

Number  of  Pupils  in  Public  /SfcTiooZs.— District  schools,  5,113  boys,  5,037  girls, 
or  a  total  of  10,180;  High  School,  297  boys,  471  girls,  or  a  total  of  771;  Nornial 
School,  31 ;  grand  total,  10,982.  In  Manual-Training  School,  45  pupils  from  the 
High  School  and  76  pupils  from  the  eighth  grade  of  the  district  schools; 
total,  121. 

/ScTioofe.— Nineteen  district  schools,  one  high  school,  one  manual-training 
school,  one  normal  school,  two  night  grammar-schools,  two  night  drawing- 
schools. 

Buildings. —  Twenty-nine  district  buildings,  including  annexes,  one  high- 
school  building,  one  library  building.  Total  value  in  1895,  11,269,416.50;  in- 
cluding personal  property,  $1,323,525.50.  Value  of  High  School:  lot,  $60,000; 
building,  S2r»,000;  personal  property,  $11,358;  total,  $326,a58. 

i^mawces.— Receipts,  exclusive  of  temporary  loans  and  bonds,  for  the  year 
ending  August  31,  1895,  $314,878.14;  expenses,  exclusive  of  bonded  debt  and 
temporary  loans,  $355,700.81;  bonded  debt,  August  31, 1895,  $48.5,000. 

PUBLIC  LIBRARY. 

Board  of  six  members,  elected  by  the  Board  of  Education;  librarian,  cat- 
aloguer, five  library  assistants;  occupies  a  fine  stone  library  building,  fire- 
proof, erected  in  Cooper  Park  in  1886-87,  and  valued  at  $100,000;  contains 
35,325  volumes  and  1,292  pamphlets;  card  and  printed  catalogues;  museum 
attached;  expenses,  1894-95,  $10,830.50,  of  which  $2,601.70  was  spent  for  the 
purchase  of  books  and  periodicals,  and  $1,094.03  for  the  museum. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  AND  INSTITUTIONS  223 

POLICE  DEPARTMENT. 

Organization. — Mayor  and  four  police  directors,  secretary,  police  judge, 
clerk  of  the  police  court,  superintendent,  captain,  five  sergeants,  detective 
sergeant,  surgeon,  seventy-five  patrolmen  (eight  mounted),  two  turnkeys, 
court  bailiff,  two  telephone  operators,  one  police  matron. 

Headquarters. — In  City  Building. 

Equipment. — One  central  station,  two  substations,  one  patrol  house,  two 
patrol  wagons,  one  ambulance,  sixteen  horses. 

Finances.— l?Qi:  Receipts,  $76,622.31;  disbursements,  ^69,959.99;  balance,  Jan- 
uary 1,  1895,  86,662.32. 

A  police  benevolent  association. 

WORK -HOUSE. 

Four  directors,  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  superintendent,  matron;  one 
work-house. 

FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

Organization.— YovLT  fire  commissioners,  chief  and  secretary,  first  assistant 
chief,  second  assistant  chief,  seventy-six  firemen. 

Equipment.— Twelve  engine,  hose,  and  hook-and-ladder  houses;  a  fire- 
alarm  telegraph  system,  with  over  one  hundred  boxes;  four  steam  fire- 
engines;  two  chemical  engines;  thirteen  hose  wagons;  three  hook-and-ladder 
wagons;  two  telegraph  wagons ;  three  buggies;  thirty-six  horses. 

Finances. — 1895:  Cost  of  maintenance,  $67,217.29;  value  of  real  estate,  $90,500. 

^Isrvice.— Number  of  alarms  in  1895,  344;  total  loss,  $21,978.05;  total  value  of 
property  where  fires  occurred,  $2,012,675;  total  insurance,  $1,011,557.  The  loss 
amounted  to  only  about  twenty-five  cents  per  capita  of  the  population. 

A  firemen's  benevolent  association. 

WATER  -  AVORKS. 
Established,  1S70. 

Organization. — Three  trustees,  secretary,  assistant  secretary,  chief  engineer, 
first  assistant  engineer,  second  assistant  engineer,  superintendent  of  street 
department,  two  inspectors  and  collectors. 

Equipment.— One  pumping-house;  three  engines,  with  combined  daily 
capacity  of  29,000,000  gallons;  eighty-five  eight-inch  tube-wells,  driven  to  a 
depth  of  forty-five  to  fifty  feet;  over  ninety-six  miles  of  street  mains,  937 
fire-hydrants,  8,007  service  connections,  1,300  meters. 

Finances.— Total  expenditures,  1870  to  December  31,  1895,  $1,792,560.39;  total 
income  to  December  31,  1895,  $938,872.77;  net  cost  to  December  31,  1895,  $8.53,- 
687.62;  water-works  bonded  debt,  November,  1895,  $765,000,  which  is  gradually 
being  paid;  cost  of  pipe,  hydrants,  etc.,  and  laying  of  same,  1870-95,  $700,000; 
received  from  sale  of  water,  1870-95,  $860,926.83;  net  earnings,  1870-95,  $342,000. 

Quality  of  the  Water.— The  quality  of  the  water,  by  recent  analysis,  has 
been  found  to  be  first-class.  It  is  clear,  cold,  and  remarkably  free  from 
injurious  matter.  In  a  recent  analysis  an  average  of  only  forty-eight  germs 
to  the  cubic  centimeter  were  found  in  the  samples  examined.  The  average 
temperature  in  the  pipes  is  about  50°. 

BOARD  OF  HEALTH. 

Mayor  and  six  members  of  the  board,  health  ofllcer,  secretary,  meat 
Inspector,  four  sanitary  policemen. 


224  HISTORICAL  AND  vSTATlSTICAL  TABLES 

CITY   INFIRMARY. 

Three  directors,  superintendent,  clerk,  city  physician. 

MARKETS. 

Two  market-houses,  with  street  markets  adjoining;  one  market-master. 

TAX  COMMISSION 

Six  members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor. 

TAXES. 

City  Expenses,  1891,-95. 

Board  of  Health  and  Sanitary 10  mflls  $4,104  82 

Bridges 25  mills  10,262  05 

Elections 15  mills  6,157  23  , 

Fire  Department 1.75  mills  71,834  37 

General  Expense 60  miUs  24,628  93 

Hospitals  ( Deaconess  and  St.  Elizabeth ) 05  mills  2,052  41 

Infirmary 05  mills  2,052  41 

Lighting 70  mills  28,733  75 

Police  Department ." HO  mills  45,153  03 

Parks  and  Levees 1 05  mills  2,052  41 

Street  Cleaning 75  mills  30,786  16 

Street  Improvement 35  mills  14,366  87 

Sewers 05  mills  2,052  41 

Work -House 05  mills  2,052  41 

SchoolPaving _^  mills  4,104  82 

6.10  mills  $260,394  08 

City  Interest  and  Sinking  Fund 5.45  mills  223,712  73 

$474,106  81 
Board  of  Ediuiatvm,  1895-96. 

Regular  Levy 7.00  mills  8288,974  49 

Manual-Training  School 20  mills  8,256  41 

Public  Library 25  mills  10,320  52 

Taxes  for  AH  Purposes,  1895-96. 

City,  County,  and  State 26.00  mills   81,073,333  82 

Tax  Valuation,  1895-96. 

Taxable  Property 841,282,070 

BONDED  DEBT. 

General  Bonds. 

( Principal  and  interest  payable  from  a  direct  tax  upon  the  General 
Duplicate.) 

Outstanding  March  1, 1895— 

Bridge 868,000  00 

City  Hall 71,000  00 

City  Prison 10,000  00 

Extending  Indebtedness 150,000  00 

Fire  Department 24,000  00 

Funded  Debt 249,000  00 


PERIODICALS  —  CHURCHES  225 

Outstanding  March  1, 1895 — 

General  Street  and  Improvement ?oO,000  00 

Levee 30,000  00 

Park  Street  Sewer 126,000  00 

Police  Deficiency 36,000  00 

Sewer 150,000  00 

Street  Paving 528,000  00 

Southwestern  Sewer 17,000  00 

Street  Improvement 150,000  00 

Wolf  Creek  Improvement 50,000  00 

Water -Works 505,000  00 

Water-Works  Enlargement 3,000  00 

Water-Works  Improvement 280,000  00 

Total $2,197,000  00 

Improvement  Bonds. 

(Principal  and  interest  payable  from  assessments  upon  abutting  or 
benefited  property.) 
Outstanding  March  1, 1895— 

Street  Paving $1,178,000  00 

Sewer ¥ 180,000  00 

Special  Assessment 36,165  00 

Total $1,394, 165  00 

PERIODICALS. 

SECULAR. 

Daily.— ^iy.,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Weekly. —  Nine,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Monthly.— Tvio. 

Totoi.— Seventeen. 

EEIilGIOtrS. 

Weekly. —  Eleven,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Semimonthly. —  Nine,  one  of  which  is  German. 
Monthly.— TYiree. 
Quarterly. —  Nine,  one  of  which  is  German. 

Total.—  Thirty-two. 

G^-and  Total. —  Forty-nine. 

CHURCHES. 

Baptist,  11.  Methodist  Episcopal,  African,  2. 

Baptist  Brethren,  1.  Methodist  Protestant,  1. 

Christian,  2.  Metliodist,  Wesleyan,  1. 

Congregational,  1.  Presbyterian,  7. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  2.  Protestant  Episcopal,  3. 

Dunkards,  2.  Reformed,  5. 

Evangelical  Association,  2.  Roman  Catholic,  7. 

Hebrew,  3.  Salvation  Army,  1. 

Lutheran,  7.  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  12. 

Methodist  Episcopal,  10.  United  Presbyterian,  1. 
Total,  81. 
15 


226  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

CHURCH  AND  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS. 

PROTESTANT. 

Union  Biblical  Seminary,  the  theological  school  of  the  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ;  four  professors,  one  general  manager,  and  forty- 
three  students. 

St.  Paul's  German  Lutheran  School,  common  branches. 

ROJIAN  CATHOLIC. 

Eight  parochial  schools  and  academies. 

St.  Mary's  Institute;  twenty-one  officers  and  professors,  275  students  in 
institute,  and  120  students  in  normal  department. 

PRIVATE. 

Miami  Commercial  College.  Young  Ladies  and  Misses'  SchooL 

Dayton  Commercial  College.  Home  School  for  Boys. 

English  Training  School.  Conservatory  of  Music. 

Deaver  Collegiate  Institute.  Dayton  College  of  Music. 

BENEVOLENT  AND  CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association.— A.  Protestant  institution,  founded  in 
1870;  occupies  a  fine  stone- front  building  on  the  south  side  of  Fourth  Street, 
between  Main  and  Jefferson;  value  of  property,  over  $100,000;  membership, 
over  2,500;  conducts  religious,  educational,  and  physical  departments,  includ 
ing  manual  training  and  industrial  education;  has  reception-room,  par 
lors,  reading-room,  junior  room,  educational  rooms,  shop,  entertainment 
hall,  gymnasium,  bath-rooms,  and  athletic  park;  receipts  in  1S9J-95,  $19,;38C.95; 
expenses,  $19,269.6.3. 

Woman''s  Christian  Association. —  A  Protestant  institution,  founded  in  1870; 
occupies  excellent  brick  buildings  on  the  south  side  of  Third  Street,  between 
Ludlow  and  Wilkinson;  value  of  property,  $60,000;  membership,  about 
350;  includes  a  young  woman's  department;  conducts  religious,  charitable, 
educational,  and  physical  departments,  lunch-room,  and  exchange;  has 
reception-rooin,  parlors,  reading-room,  educational  rooms,  entertainment 
hall,  industrial  class-room,  gymnasium,  bath-rooms,  etc. ;  receipts  in  1894-95, 
$4,279.41;  expenses,  $4,242.92. 

Young  Woynen's  League.  — YownAeA  in  1895;  occupies  a  brick  building  on 
the  west  side  of  JeflFerson  Street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  streets;  member- 
ship, 4.50;  conducts  religious,  educational,  and  phj-sical  departments,  and 
lunch-room. 

Yoting  Men's  Institute.— \  Roman  Catholic  institution;  occupies  a  brick 
building  on  the  south  side  of  Fourth  Street,  between  Ludlow  and  Wilkinson. 

St.  Joseph's  Institute. —  Conducted  by  the  Catholic  Gesellen-Verein,  for  the 
benefit  of  young  men;  organized  in  1868;  furnishes  reading-room,  gymna- 
sium, and  free  circulating  library;  building  located  on  Montgomery  Street. 

Protestant  Deaconess  Home  and  Hospital.— YownAed  in  18S0  by  the  Protestant 
Deaconess  Society  of  Dayton;  occupies  an  expensive  pressed-brick  building 
on  south  side  of  Apple  Street,  between  Main  and  Brown,  costing,  with 
equipment,  about  $1.50,000;   capacity,  175  patients. 

St.  Elizabeth  Hospital. —  A  Roman  Catholic  institution,  founded  in  1878; 
conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Poor  of  St.  Francis;  occupies  a  large  brick 


SOCIETIES  AND   CLUBS  22/ 

building  on  the  west  side  of  Hopeland  Street,  between  Washington  and 
Albany,  costing  over  f 65,000;  capacity,  242  patients. 

Widows'  iibme.— Founded  in  1875,  by  the  Woman's  Christian  Association; 
occupies  a  brick  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Findlay  and  May 
streets;  capacity,  twenty-eight  inmates;  endowment,  $37,358.79;  receipts, 
for  year  ending  October  5,  1895,  $3,124.99;  expenses,  82,911.59. 

Montgomery  County  CMldren''s  Home. —  Founded  in  1866;  occupies  a  brick 
building  on  the  east  side  of  Summit  Street,  soutli  of  Home  Avenue;  number 
of  inmates  in  February,  1895,  fifty-one,  of  whom  thirty-eight  were  boys  and 
thirteen  were  girls;  total  received  from  the  founding,  1,864. 

Christian  Deaconess  i/o»ie.— Monument  Avenue,  West  Side. 

Children's  Home. — 116  South  Ringgold  Street. 

Bethany  Home.— For  homeless  girls  and  women;  159  East  Park  Street. 

Natiojuil  Soldiers'  Home  (Central  Branch). —  Founded  in  1867;  located  a 
short  distance  west  of  the  city;  grounds  cover  six  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres;  number  of  inmates,  about  6,000. 

Southern  Ohio  Asylum  fur  the  Insane. —  Founded  in  1852;  located  at  the  south 
end  of  Wayne  Avenue;  capacity,  800  patients. 

Humane  Society. 

Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Xo.  1. 

Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  2\'o.  2. 

St.  Joseph's  German  Catholic  Asylum. 

Other  Societies.— 1>! umerous  lodges  of  Masons,  Knights  of  Pythias,  Knights 
of  St.  John,  Odd  Fe^ows,  Grand  United  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  Sons  of  Veterans,  Woman's  Veteran  Relief  Union,  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  Knights  of  Labor,  trades  unions,  and  other 
orders. 

LITERARY  AND  MUSICAL  SOCIETIES. 

Present  Day  Club.  Shakespeare  Club. 

Woman's  Literary  Club.  Philharmonic  Society. 

"H.  H."Club.  Mozart  Club. 

Emerson  Club.  Harmonia  Society. 

Friday  Afternoon  Club.  Maennerchor. 

POLITICAL  CLUBS. 

Garfield  Club.  Thurman  Club. 

Jackson  Club.  Lincoln  Club. 

Gravel  Hall  Club. 

SOCIAL,  CYCLING,  GYMNASTIC,  AND  OTHER  CLUBS. 

Dayton  Club.  Dayton  Gymnastic  Club. 

Dayton  Bicycle  Club.  '  Dayton  Turngemeinde. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Wheelmen.  Stillwater  Canoe  Club. 

Dayton  Lawn  Tennis  Club.  Ruckawa  Canoe  Club. 

Dayton  Angling  Club.  Dayton  Camera  Club. 

MILITARY  COMPANIES. 

Phoenix  Light  Infantry,  Company  G,  Third  Regiment  Infantry,  Ohio 
National  Guard. 

Gem  City  Light  Infantry,  Company  I,  Third  Regiment  Infantiy,  Ohio 
National  Guard. 


228  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

STREET-RAILWAYS. 

City  Railway. — Third  Street  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Third  Street  to  the 
Soldiers'  Home;  electric;  length  of  line,  over  six  miles  of  double  track  and 
less  than  one-quarter  mile  of  single  track. 

Fifth  Street  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Huffman  Avenue  to  the  Soldiers' 
Home;  electric;  length  of  line,  six  and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  and 
about  one-half  mile  of  single  track. 

Green  Line,  from  the  east  end  of  Richard  Street  to  the  corner  of  Fifth 
and  "Wilkinson;  electric;  length  of  line,  over  two  miles  of  double  track. 

Authorized  capital,  $2,100,000;  total  length  of  lines  operated,  over  fourteen 
and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  and  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  of 
single  track. 

Oakivood  Strect-Iiailway.— From  the  north  end  of  Salem  Street  in  Dayton 
View  to  Oakwood,  at  the  south  end  of  Brown  Street;  electric;  capital,  $300,- 
000;  length  of  line,  about  four  miles  of  double  track. 

White  Line  Street -Railway. —  From  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Forest 
Avenue  in  Riverdale,  via  Main,  Third,  Ludlow,  Washington,  and  German- 
town  streets  to  the  Soldiers' Home;  electric;  capital,  $400,000 ;  length  of  line, 
about  six  miles  of  double  track. 

Wayne  Avenue  and  Fifth  Street  Railway.— From  the  south  end  of  Wayne 
Avenue,  via  Wayne  Avenue,  Fifth,  Jefferson,  First,  Keoweo,  and  Valley 
streets  to  the  east  end  of  Valley  Street  in  North  Dayton;  horse-cars;  capital, 
$100,000;  length  of  line,  about  three  miles  of  double  track  and  about  one 
mile  of  single  track. 

Dayton  Traction  Company.— South  Main  Street,  from  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
extending  to  Calvary  Cemetery;  electric;  capital,  $250,000;  length  of  line,  one 
and  one-half  mues  of  double  track  and  one  and  one-half  miles  of  single  track. 

Total  length  of  street  railways  operated,  over  twenty-nine  miles  of  double 
track  and  about  three  and  one-quarter  miles  of  single  track.  About  two 
and  one-half  miles  of  double  track  being  used  jointly,  the  net  length  of 
double  track  is  about  twenty-six  and  one-half  miles. 

STREET  IMPROVEMENTS. 

Total  length  of  streets  in  the  city,  one  hundred  and  flfty-eight  miles,  of 
•which  nearly  twenty-flve  miles  are  paved,  as  follows:  asphalt,  fourteen 
miles;  brick,  nearly  nine  miles;  granite,  over  one  mile;  Medina  stone,  over 
one-half  mile.  Total  cost  of  paving,  $1,800,000.  Eighty-three  miles  of  streets 
are  graded  and  graveled,  and  fifty  miles  are  unimproved. 

Thirty-nine  miles  of  sanitary  sewers  and  forty  miles  of  storm  sewers  have 
been  laid,  at  a  cost  of  $495,000. 

COMMERCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL. 

Board  of  Trade.— OfRccrs  :  president,  first  vice-president,  second  vice-pres- 
ident, secretary,  treasurer,  fifteen  directors. 

National  Batiks.-  Seven,  witli  combined  capital  of  $2,500,000,  and  cash  assets 
of  over  $15,000,000;  a  clearing-house. 

Building  and  Loaii  Associatimis. — Seventeen,  with  combined  capital  amount- 
ing to  $43,350,000. 

Fire-Bisurance  Companies  (Home).— Seven,  with  investment  of  $700,000, 
and  net  assets  amounting  to  $1,213,204;  one  underwriters'  association. 

Incorpo7-a(ed  Companies.— One  hundred  and  seventy,  with  capital  stock  of 
over  $25,000,000. 


COMMERCIAL  AND   INDUSTRIAL 


229 


Builders'  Exchange— Officers:  president,  first  vice-president,  second  vice- 
president,  secretary,  treasurer. 

Gas  Company, 

Natural  Gas  Comjjany. 

Electric  Light  Company. 

Telegraph  and  Cable  Cotnpanies. —  Two. 

District  Telegraph  Company. 

Telephone  Exchange. 

Mailivays.—Kleven,  with  sixty-four  passenger  trains  daily. 

Manufacturing  Estahlishments.—  'iswnxher,  about  one  tiiousand;  capital  in- 
vested in  1894,  S1L650,043;  value  of  manufactured  products,  1894,  $10,163,913.60; 
wages  paid,  1894,  $2,176,156.15.  In  number  of  factories,  in  capital  invested  in 
manufacturing  industi-ies,  and  in  wages  paid,  Dayton  ranks  as  the  third 
city  in  the  State;  in  value  of  manufactured  products,  fourth. 

POSTOFFICE  STATISTICS,   1895. 

Postage  Receipts $178,451 .08 

Expenses  of  Office $74,648.98 

Number  of  Money  Orders  Issued 19,852 

Value  of  Money  Orders  Issued $154,367.35 

Number  of  Money  Orders  Paid 60,058 

Value  of  Money  Orders  Paid $333,093.77 

Pieces  of  First-Class  Mail  Received 4,480,000 

Pieces  of  All  Other  Classes  Received 3,948,800 

Special  Letters  Received 9,831 

Pieces  of  First-Class  Mail  Dispatched 7,620,907 

Pieces  of  All  Other  Classes  Dispatched 7,054,850 

Special  Letters  Dispatched 6,257 

Registered  Letters  and  Parcels  Received 40,920 

Registered  Letters  and  Parcels  Dispatched 19,742 

Total  Number  Pieces  Received  and  Dispatched 23,120,645 

Weight  in  Pounds  of  Second-Class  Matter  Mailed  by  Publishers...  47,441 

Number  of  Carriers 40 

Mail  Trains  Arriving  Daily 39 

Mail  Trains  Departing  Daily 42 


PARTIAL  ENUMERATION  OF  MERCANTILE,  MANUFACTURING,  AND  OTHER 

BUSINESS  CONCERNS. 


Abstracters  of  Titles 4 

Agricultural  Implements,  Deal- 
ers    10 

Agricultural  Implements,  Mfs..  6 

Architects 10 

Architectural  Iron,  Manuf 1 

Art  Glass 1 

Artificial  Flowers 1 

Artificial  Stone  Pavements 2 

Artists 22 

Asbestos    Packing    and   Mill 

Boards 1 

Asphalt  Pavements 2 

Asphalt  Roofing 2 

Attorneys-at-Law 123 


Auctioneers 6 

Autographic  Registers,  Manuf s.  2 

Awnings,  Manufs 4 

Bakeries 50 

Bakers'  Supplies 1 

Baking-Powder,  Munufs 6 

Banks,  National 7 

Barber  Shops 120 

Barbers'  Supplies 1 

Baskets,  Manufs 9 

Bicycles,  Dealers 13 

Bicycles,  Manuf 1 

Blackboards,  Slate  Stone,  Mf....  1 

Blacking,  Manuf 1 

Blacksmith  Shops 36 


230 


HISTORICAL  AND   STATISTICAL  TABLES 


Rlank  Books,  Manufs 5 

Boarding- Houses 72 

Boat-Houses 3 

Boats,  Manuf 1 

Boilers,  Steam,  Manufs 4 

Bolt  and  Screw  Cases 1 

Bookbinders 6 

Bookbinders'  Machinery,  Mf. ..  1 

Book-Cover  Dies  and  Tools 1 

Book  Publishers 4 

Booksellers  and  Stationers 10 

Boot-  and  Shoe-Makers IIS 

Boots  and  Shoes,  Retail 46 

Boots  and  Shoes,  Wholesale 1 

Boxes,  Man  uf 1 

Brass-Founders 3 

Brass  Goods 2 

Brass  Stamps 2 

Breweries 17 

Brick,  Manufs 11 

Bricklayers 17 

Brickmaklng  Machinery 1 

Brokers •  18 

Brooms,  Manufs 11 

Brushes,  Manufs 2 

Building  and  Loan  Associations  17 

Candy,  Manufs 4 

Candy-Molds,  Manuf 1 

Canning  Factory 1 

Carbon,  Manuf 1 

Car-Furnishings,  Manuf 1 

Carpenters  and  Builders 118 

Carpet  Cleaners 7 

Carpet  Dealers 14 

Carpet  Weavers 11 

Carriages  and  Buggies, Dealers..  4 

Carriages  and  Buggies,  Manufs.  9 

Cars,  Railroad,  Manuf 1 

Cash  Registers,  Manuf 1 

Caterers  2 

Cement  Pavements 13 

Chain,  Manufs 2 

Chairs,  Manuf 1 

China  and  Queensware Dealers.  10 

Church  Furniture 1 

Cigar- Boxes,  Manufs 3 

Cigar  Dealers 53 

Cigars,  Manufs 58 

Cistern  Builders 5 

Civil  Engineers G 

Clearing-House 1 

Clergymen 135 

Clothing  Dealers 27 


Clothing  Renovators 1!) 

Coal  Dealers 40 

Coal  Miners 4 

Cold  Storage 1 

Commercial  Colleges 2 

Commission  Merchants 11 

Confectioners,  Retail 55 

Confectioners,  Wholesale 10 

Cooper  Shops 7 

Coppersmith 1 

Corsets,  Manufs 3 

Cotton  Batting 1 

Daily  Markets 112 

Dairies 25 

Dental  Electrical  Specialties —  1 

Dentists 31 

Detective  Agency 1 

Dressmakers 300 

Druggist,  Wholesale 1 

Druggists  and  Apothecaries 55 

Dry  Goods,  Retail 44 

Dry  Goods,  Wholesale 4 

Dye  Houses 2 

Electric  Construction  and  Sup- 
plies    5 

Electric  Light  Company 1 

Electric  Supplies,  Dealer 1 

Electrical  Engineers 2 

Electrical  Goods,  Manuf 1 

Electrotypers 2 

Employment  Agency 1 

Engravers 6 

Express  Companies 7 

Fancy  Goods 8 

Fans,  Ventilating 1 

Feed  Stores 32 

Fences,  Manufs 4 

J'ile-Cases,  Manuf 1 

Files,  Manufs 2 

Fire-Alarm  Operatoi's 1 

Fire-Brick  and  Clay 4 

Flavori  ng  Extracts 2 

Flax-Mill 1 

Florists IS 

Flour-Mills 9 

Freight  Lines 9 

Fresco  Artists 2 

Fruit-Growers 11 

Fruits,  Retail 10 

Fruits,  Wholesale 6 

Furnaces,  Warm  Air 7 

Furniture,  Dealers 16 

Furniture,  Manufs 5 


COMMERCIAL   AND   INDUSTRIAL 


231 


Furniture-Cars 12 

Galvanized  Iron  Cornices 6 

Gas-Burners  and  Appliances. ..  1 

Gas  Company 1 

Gas  Company,  Natural 1 

Gas-Engine,  Manufs 3 

Gas-Fitters  and  Fixtures 15 

Gas-Machine,  Manuf 1 

Gas  Range  and  Heater,  Manuf.  1 

Gasoline  Stove,  Manuf 1 

Grain  Dealers 5 

Grain  Elevator 1 

Grocers,  Retail 307 

Grocers,  Wholesale 9 

Guns,  Pistols,  etc 2 

Gunsmiths 3 

Hardware  and  Cutlery 12 

Hardware,  Wholesale 4 

Harness  and  Saddles 17 

Hats  and  Caps 20 

Hedges 1 

Hotels 19 

House-Furnishing  Goods 8 

House-Movers  and  Raisers 2 

Hubs,  Spokes,  etc 2 

Hydraulic  Machinery 2 

Ice,  Dealers 3 

Ice,  Manufs 2 

Ice  Cream 13 

Ice  and   Refrigerator  Machin- 
ery, Manuf 1 

Inls,  Manuf 1 

Insurance  Agents 38 

Insurance  Companies,  Fire 9 

Insurance  Companies,  Life 2 

Iron-Founders 10 

Iron  Posts,  Manuf 1 

Iron-  and  Wood- Working  Ma- 
chinery   1 

Jewelers 26 

Justices  of  the  Peace 4 

Kindergartens 3 

Lamps  and  Lamp  Goods 1 

Lasts,  Manufs 2 

Laundries 17 

Leather  and  Findings 2 

Lime,  Plaster,  and  Cement 11 

Linseed-    and    Cotton -Oil   Ma- 
chinery'   2 

Linseed  Oil,  Manufs 4 

Lithographers 3 

Livery-Stables 36 

Xioan  Agents , 6 


Loan  Offices 5 

Locksmiths 2 

Lumber  Dealers 15 

Machine  Knives,  Manuf 1 

Machine  Tools 2 

Machinists 15 

Machinists'  Tools 1 

Malleable  Iron  Works 1 

Mantels  and  Grates 4 

Marble  Dust 1 

Marble  Quarry 1 

Marble  Works 8 

Mattresses,  Manufs 4 

Meats,  Wholesale 2 

Mechanics'  Tools 3 

Medicines,  Patent 19 

Men's  Furnishing  Goods 32 

Mercantile  Agencies 3 

Milk  Depots 8 

Mill  Supplies 4 

Milliners,  Retail 41 

Milliners,  Wholesale 2 

Mineral  Water,  Manufs 2 

Mittens,  Manuf 1 

Model  Makers 2 

Motor,  Water,  Manuf 1 

Music  Colleges 2 

Music  Publisher 1 

Music  Teachers 80 

Musical  Instruments,  Dealers..  5 

News  Depots 8 

Notaries  Public 114 

Notions,  Retail 20 

Notions,  Wholesale 5 

Novelties,  Manufs 2 

Nozzles,  Manufs 2 

Nurseries 6 

Nurses 37 

Oculists  and  Aurists 3 

Oils 15 

Opticians 5 

Overalls,  Manufs 3 

Oysters,  Fish,  and  Game 7 

Pails,  Manuf 1 

Paint,  Manuf 1 

Painters,  House  and  Sign 73 

Paints,  Oils,  etc 7 

Pants,  INIanufs 3 

Paper,  Dealers 3 

Paper,  Manufs 7 

Paper  Bags 1 

Paper-Box  Makers' Machineiy.  1 

Paper  Boxes,  Manufs 2 


232 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 


Paper  Hangers 27 

Paper  Hangings 17 

Paper-Mill  Machinery 1 

Paper  and  Wooden  Plate,  Mf....  1 

Parquetry  Floors 1 

Patent  Attorneys 3 

Patent  Solicitors 2 

Pattern-Makers 11 

Pension  Attorneys 2 

Pension  Claim  Agents 3 

Perfumery,  Manuf 1 

Photographers 17 

Photographers'  Supplies 2 

Physicians 147 

Pianos  and  Organs 7 

Pictures  and  Picture  Frames. ..  9 

Planing-Mills 8 

Plasterers  21 

Plows,  Manufs 2 

Plumbers 15 

Pork  Packers 4 

Potteries 2 

Poultry  Dealers 2 

Printers,  Book  and  Job 26 

Pumps 8 

Putty,  Manuf 1 

Rags,  Metals,  etc 7 

Railroad  Ticket  Brokers 3 

Railway  Cars,  Manuf 1 

Railway  Supplies,  Manuf 1 

Real  Estate 62 

Restaurants 23 

Ropes  and  Cordage 1 

Rubber  Goods 1 

Rubber  Stamps 3 

Safe  Deposit  Companies 2 

Saloons 399 

Sash,  Doors,  and  Blinds,  Manufs     9 

Sawmills 2 

Saws,  Manufs 2 

Scales,  Computing,  Manuf 1 

School  Furniture,  Manuf 1 

Screws,  Manuf 1 

Sculptors 2 

Sealing-Wax,  Manuf 1 

Second-Hand  Stores 2 

Seeds 4 

Sewer  Pipe 7 

Sewing-Machines,  Dealers 15 

Sewing-Machines,  Manuf 1 

Sheet-Iron  Workers 3 

Shirts,  Manufs 6 

Shoes,  Manuf 1 


Showcase  Dealers 2 

Sign  Painters 10 

Soap,  Manufs 6 

Spice-Mills 5 

Spraying-Machines,  Manufs 2 

Stained  Glass 1 

Stair-Builder 1 

Stationers 12 

Steam-Engine  Builders..' 3 

Steam-Fitters 7 

Steamship  Agents 3 

Stencils 2 

Stenographers 6 

Stock  Yard 1 

Stockings,  Manuf 1 

Stone-Cutters'  Tools,  Manufs. ..  3 

Stonemasons 22 

Stone-Quarries 3 

StoneM'are 2 

Stone-Yards 5 

Storage i 4 

Stove-Polish,  Manuf 1 

Stoves,  Manufs 3 

Stoves  and  Tinware,  Dealers...  35 

Straw-Boards,  Manuf 1 

Street-Cars,  Manuf 1 

Street  Contractors 16 

Street- Paving  Contractors 2 

Street  Sprinklers 7 

Subscription  Books 3 

Sweeping-Machines,  Manuf 1 

Switch  and  Car  Locks,  Manuf..  1 

Table-Slides,  Manuf 1 

Tablets,  Manuf 1 

Tags,  Manuf 1 

Tailors,  Merchant 38 

Teas  and  Coffees,  Retail 10 

Teas  and  Coffees,  Wholesale 1 

Telegraph  Companies 3 

Telephone  Company 1 

Telephone  Construction 1 

Theaters 2 

Tinware 10 

Tobacco,  Leaf 22 

Tobacco,  Manufs 3 

Tobacco  Machinery 1 

Toilet  Articles,  Manuf 1 

Toys 3 

Transfer  Companie.s 2 

Trunk  Materials 1 

Trunks,  Valises,  etc 4 

Twines  and  Cordage 2 

Typewriters 3 


CHRONOLOGICAL   RECORD  233 

Umbrellas,  Manuf 1  Wheels,Manuf 1 

Undertakers 10  White  Lead,  Manuf 1 

United  States  Commissioner....  1  Wind  Engines 1 

Upliolsterers 10  Window  Glass 2 

Varnish,  Manufs 2  Window  Shades 3 

Veterinary  Hospital 1  Wood  Dealers 11 

Veterinary  Surgeons 4  Wood-  and  Iron-Working  Ma- 
Wagon-Makers 26                    chinery 1 

Washing-Machines,  Manuf 1  Wood  Mantels,  Manuf 1 

Water-Supply 2  Wood  and  Willow  Ware 2 

Water-Wheels,  Manufs 2  Yeast,  Manufs 3 

CHRONOLOGICAL  RECORD. 

1749— French  Major  Celoron  de  Bienville  ascended  the  La  Roche  or  Big  Miami 
River. 

1751 — Gist  visited  the  Twightwee  or  Miami  villages. 

1780 — General  George  Rogers  Clark  led  an  expedition  against  the  Indians  of 
the  Miami  region,  one  of  his  oflicers  being  Colonel  Robert  Patterson. 

1782 — November  9,  A  skirmish  between  American  soldiers  under  General 
Clark  and  the  Indians  on  the  site  of  Dayton,  in  which  the  Amer- 
icans were  victorious. 

1786 — Anaericans  under  Colonel  Logan  again  defeated  the  Indians  on  the  site 
of  Dayton,  one  of  the  brigades  being  commanded  by  Colonel  Robert 
Patterson. 

1789 — Plans  formed  for  a  town  named  Venice  on  the  site  of  Dayton. 

1795 — August  3,  A  treaty  of  peace  made  with  the  Indians  at  Greenville,  Ohio, 
by  General  Wayne  — August  20,  The  site  of  Dayton  purchased  by 
Generals  St.  Clair,  Dayton,  and  Wilkinson,  and  Colonel  Ludlow  — 
November,  The  town  laid  out  by  Colonel  Israel  Ludlow. 

1796 — April  1,  Arrival  of  first  settlers,  by  the  Miami  River,  landing  at  the 
head  of  St.  Clair  Street;  two  other  parties  coming  a  few  days  later 
by  land — Newcom's  first  log  cabin  built. 

1798 — First  sermon  preached  in  Dayton  by  Rev.  John  KobLer,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  —  First  Methodist  Episcopal  class,  now  Grace 
Church,  organized,  with  eight  members  — Newcom's  Tavern  built — 
Taxes  paid,  $29.74. 

1799— First  Presbyterian  Church  organized  — Blockhouse  built— First  school 
opened— First  industries  established,  consisting  of  distillery,  saw- 
mill, and  corn-cracker  mill  — First  lime  made  — First  flatboat  left 
for  New  Orleans  — Dayton  three  years  old  and  contained  nine  cabins 
—Only  two  houses  on  Main  Street  — D.  C.  Cooper  appointed  justice 
of  the  peace. 

1800— Presbyterian  meeting-house,  eighteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size,  built  of 
logs,  on  northeast  corner  of  Main  and  Third  streets  — August  28, 
First  wedding  in  Dayton,  that  of  Benjamin  Van  Cleve  and  Mary 
Whitten  —April  14,  First  child  born  in  Dayton,  Jane  Newcom  — First 
store  opened,  in  Newcom's  Tavern. 

1801— First  male  child  born  in  Dayton,  John  W.  Van  Cleve. 

1802— Only  five  families  in  Dayton  — Ohio  admitted  into  the  Union. 

1808— D.  C.  Cooper  resuscitated  the  town  — Montgomery  County  organized- 
Dayton  made  the  county-seat  — First  court  held  in  Dayton  — New- 
com's Tavern  used  as  court-house,  jail,  church,  and  country  store. 


234  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

1804— Postoffice  and  mail-route  established  — Benjamin  Van  Cleve,  first  post- 
master—Mail  every  two  weeks,  between  Cincinnati  and  Detroit,  via 
Dayton  — Letter  postage  twenty  to  twenty-flve  cents— Log  jail  built 
on  Court-house  lot— First  grist-mill  erected  — Taxes  for  the  year, 
S458.40. 

1805— The  town  of  Dayton  incorporated— First  town  election  held  — Presby- 
terian log  meeting-house  sold  for  twenty-two  dollars  and  services 
continued  in  log  tavern  — Dayton  Social  Library  Society  incorpo- 
rated—First brick  building  erected  — First  disastrous  flood. 

1806— First  Court-house  built,  of  brick,  on  present  Court-house  lot— Two 
brick  stores  erected- First  newspaper  published. 

1807— DaytOn  Academy  incorporated. 

1808— First  brick  residence  built— 196  votes  cant— Repertory  first  published. 

1809  — Freight  line  of  keel-boats  established  between  Dayton,  Laramie,  and 
St.  Mary's  — Fourth  of  July  celebrated  with  a  procession— First 
drug-store  opened  — First  political  convention  in  the  county. 

1810— Population,  383— New  sidewalks  ordered  by  Select  Council —O/iio  Centi- 
nel  first  published. 

1811— Nine  flatboats  left  for  New  Orleans,  with  products  of  the  surrounding 
country  — A  comet  visible,  and  severe  earthquake  shocks  felt. 

1812— A  company  enlisted  for  the  War  of  1812— Ohio  militia  encamped  in 
Dayton. 

1813— First  society  of  mechanics  organized— First  Dayton  bank  chartered  — 
August  13,  Present  Grand  Opera ^House  lot,  on  southeast  corner  of 
Main  and  First  streets,  purchased  by  James  Steele  and  Joseph 
Peirce  for  twenty  dollars. 

1814— First  Methodist  church  completed— Ferry  began  to  operate  at  Ludlow 
Street— OMo  Republican  first  published  — First  Dayton  bank  opened 
for  business  —  A  flood. 

1815— Dayton  Female  Charitable  and  Bible  Society  organized  — First  market- 
house  opened— About  one  hundred  dwellings  in  Dayton,  chiefly  log 
cabins— Moral  Society  and  Society  of  Associated  Bachelors  formed 
—  First  school  for  girls  opened. 

1816— First  theater  held  in  Dayton— OM'o  Watchman  flrst  published. 

1817— New  Court-house  finished  — Presbyterians  erected  a  brick  church  — 
St.  Thomas  Episcopal  Parish  organized  — Bridge  across  Mad  River 
built  — Bridge  Street  Bridge  Company  incorporated  — First  Sabbath- 
School  Association  organized— Only  two  carriages  owned  in  Dayton. 

1818— Stage-coach  line  began  to  run  between  Dayton  and  Cincinnati. 

1819— A  keel-boat  arrived  from  Cincinnati  — St.  Thomas  Episcopal  Church 
organized— An  African  lion  exhibited  at  Reid's  Inn— Bridge  at 
Bridge  Street  completed. 

1820— Cooper's  Mills  burned  — Population,  1,000. 

1822— Montgomery  County  Bible  Society  organized— Lancasterian  method  of 
instruction  introduced  — The  Gridiron  published— Seven  flatboats 
and  one  keel-boat  left  for  New  Orleans. 

1823  — Miami  Republican  and  Dayton  Advertise)-  first  published. 

1824— First  Baptist  Church  organized— First  cotton  factory  erected,  by  Thomas 
Clegg. 

1825— Law  passed  authorizing  the  construction  of  a  canal  from  Dayton  to 
Cincinnati— Stage-line  established  between  Columbus,  Dayton,  and 
Cincinnati— 497  passengers  by  stage  passed  through  Dayton  during 
the  year. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    RE;C0RD  235 

1826 — The  WcUchma7i  and  Miami  Republican  consolidated,  and  named  the 
Ohio  National  Journal  and  Montgomery  and  Dayton  Advertiser,  after- 
ward becoming  the  Dayton  Journal. 

1827— First  volunteer  Are  company  organized— Baptist  society  built  a  church. 

1828 — Water  first  turned  into  the  canal  —  First  canal-boat  launched  — Twenty 
stage-coaches  arrived  every  week  —  First  iron  foundry  established, 
now  the  Globe  Iron  Works  — A  flood. 

1829— First  arrival  of  canal-boats  from  Cincinnati  — First  temperance  society 
formed  — A  new  market-house  built— Last  factory  established,  now 
Crawford,  McGregor  &  Canby's  Dayton  Last  Works  — Steele's  dam 
constructed  — A  majority  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  established  a 
Campbellite  church,  now  the  Church  of  Christ. 

1830 — Population,  2,954 — Dayton  Republican  first  published. 

1831  — First  public  school  opened— Christ  Church  Parish  organized— 'First 
Catholic  family  arrived  in  Dayton  —  R.  C.  Schenck  began  practice 
of  law  in  Dayton. 

1832 — A  fugitive  slave  captured  in  Dayton  —  First  Board  of  Health  appointed 

—  Fifty-one  brick  and  sixty-two  wooden  houses  built — A  silk  man- 
ufactory established— Dayton  Lyceum  organized  — First  parochial 
schoolopened— Aflood— Mad  River  &  Lake  Erie  Railroad  Company 
incorporated. 

1833— First  Reformed  Church  organized  — Mechanics' Institute  organized  — 
Population,  4,000— Thirty-three  deaths  from  cholera. 

1834 — Democratic  Herald  first  published  —  Police  Department  organized. 

1835 — Firemen's  Insurance  Company  chartered. 

1836— Main  Street  bridge  opened  for  travel  — First  book  published. 

1837 — Emmanuel  Catholic  Church  dedicated. 

1838— The  "public  square,"  now  Cooper  Park,  prepared  for  and  planted  with 
trees — Convention  held  in  the  interest  of  free  schools  —  Dayton  and 
Springfield  turnpike  constructed  — Montgomery  County  Agricul- 
tural Society  organized  —  Erection  of  public  school-houses  ordered. 

1839 — Dayton  Township  first  divided  into  election  precincts — First  county 
agricultural  fair  held  —  Dayton  Silk  Company  organized,  with  capital 
of  $100,000 — First  English  Lutheran  Church  organized. 

1840— Harrison  campaign  —  General  Harrison  visited  Dayton  —  Dayton  Journal 
began  to  issue  first  daily  paper  — Emmanuel  Church  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Association  organized— Population,  6,067 —Paper-mill  established 

—  Montgomery  County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  organized. 
1841— Dayton  incorporated  as  a  city— The  works  of  W.  P.  Callahan  &  Com- 
pany established. 

1842 — Western  Empire,  now  Dayton  Times,  established. 

1813 — Woodland  Cemetery  opened — John  Quincy  Adams  entertained — Bank 
of  Dayton  chartered  by  the  State  Legislature. 

1844— St.  Henry's  Cemetery  opened. 

1845 — Bank  of  Dayton  ( a  State  bank),  now  the  Dayton  National  Bank,  organ- 
ized-Dayton Bank,  to  which  the  Winters  National  Bank  traces  its 
origin,  organized. 

1846— Dayton  furnished  soldiers  for  the  Mexican  War. 

1847— Disastrous  fiood  — Dayton  Library  Association  organized  — First  United 
Brethren  Church  organized — First  telegraph  message  received. 

1849— Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  deaths  from  cholera— The  Barney  & 
Smith  Car  Works  established  — Dayton  lighted  by  gas  — St.  Mary's 
Institute  founded  — W.  C.  Howells  purchased  the  Dayton  Transcript. 


236  HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  TABLES 

1850— Central  High  School  established  — Present  old  Couit-house  completed 
—City  Bank  and  Farmers'  Bank  opened  — D.  L.  Rike,  now  the  Rike 
Dry  Goods  Company,  began  business  — First  Hebrew  Congregation 
organized— Population,  10,976. 

1851  — First  railroad,  from  Dayton  to  Springfield  completed  — Cincinnati, 
Hamilton  &  Dayton  Railway  completed  to  Dayton  — First  passenger 
station  located  at  northeast  corner  of  Jeflerson  and  Sixth  streets- 
Miami  Valley  Bank  established  — Dayton  Insurance  Company 
organized  — Hebrew  cemetery  opened. 

1852— Probate  Court  of  Montgomery  County  first  opened  — Southern  Ohio 
Insane  Asylum  located  at  Dayton  — Exchange  Bank,  successor  of  the 
Dayton  Bank,  opeued  —  Dayton  &  Union  Railroad  opened  for  traffic. 

1853— United  Brethren  Publishing  House,  established  in  1834  at  Circleville, 
Ohio,  removed  to  Dayton  — Dayton  &  Western  Railroad  opened. 

1854— First  Orthodox  Congregational  Society  organized. 

18.55— Public  Library  established  — The  works  of  Pinneo  &  Daniels  estab- 
lished. 

1856— Union  Passenger  Station  erected. 

1837 — Old  Central  High  School  building  erected. 

1859— Stomps-Burkhardt  chair  factory  established. 

1860— Miami  Commercial  College  established— Population,  20,081. 

1861-65— Dayton  furnished  to  the  United  States  service  2,0[)9  soldiers;  under 
special  calls  of  the  State,  9C5;  grand  total  ot  Dayton  men  in  the 
service,  3,664. 

1862— Lowe  Brothers'  paint  factory  founded. 

1863— First' National  Bank,  now  the  City  National  Bank,  established — Sec- 
ond National  Bank  chartered— Miami  Valley  Insurance  Company 
organized  — First  steam  fire-engine  purchased  — Vallandigham  ar- 
rested—Jb!«?-7!aZ  office  burned  — Dayton  &  Michigan  Railroad  opened. 

18Gi— Umpire  office  mobbed— The  Brownell  Company  began  business. 

1865— Miami  Valley  Boiler  Works  established— Teutonia  Insurance  Com- 
pany organized  — Ohio  Insurance  Company  began  business  — Atlan- 
tic &  Great  Western  Railroad,  now  the  New  York,  Pennsj^lvania  & 
Ohio,  formed  by  the  consolidation  of  several  roads. 

1866— Great  destruction  by  flood  — National  Soldiers'  Home  located  near 
Dayton  — Stilwell  &  Bierce  Manufacturing  Company  began  business 
—  T'b^/,;.s-.Z'ei7i<n^  established — Christian  Publishing  Association,  estab- 
lished in  1843,  reincorporated  and  located  in  Dayton. 

1867— Central  Branch  National  Military  Home  established  near  Dayton  — 
Dayton  Building  Association  No.  1  organized— Montgomery  County 
Children's  Home  founded  — Cooper  Insurance  Company  incorpo- 
rated. 

1868— McHose  &  Lyon  Architectural  Iron  Works  established— John  Dodds 
began  to  manufacture  agricultural  implements. 

1869— First  street-railway  constructed,  on  Third  Street  — Normal  School 
opened  — Dayton  Malleable  Iron  Company  incorporated— Thresher 
&  Company  began  to  manufacture  varnish  — Sunday,  May  16, 1  a.m., 
Turner's  Opera  House  and  adjoining  buildings  burned;  loss,  $500,000; 
insurance,  $128,000. 

1870— Holly  Water- Works  established  — Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
organized— Woman's  Christian  Association  organized  — Population, 
30,473— Cincinnati  "Short  Line"  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Cleve- 
land, Cincinnati,  Chicago  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  incorporated. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    RECORD  237 

1871  — Union  Biblical  Seminary  opened  — Merchants  National  Bank  incorpo- 

rated—Wayne and  Fifth  Street  Railway  and  Dayton  View  Street- 
Raiiway  chartered. 

1872  — Calvary  Cemetery  opened. 

1873— Metropolitan  police  force  organized— Mutual  Home  and  Savings  Asso- 
ciation organized. 

1874— Philharmonic  Society  organized  — New  jail  completed— Smith  &  Vaile 
Company  began  business. 

1875— J.  W.  Stoddard  &  Company  began  business. 

1877 —  Free  night  schools  established  — Crume  &  Sefton  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany established  — Dayton  &  Southeastern  Railroad,  now  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Dayton  &  Ironton,  opened. 

1878— St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  founded— WoodhuU's  carriage  and  buggy  works 
established. 

1879— Dayton  Daili/  Herald  first  published. 

1880— Fifth  Street  Railway  Company  incorporated— Population,  38,678. 

1881  -St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  erected. 

1882— Third  National  Banlt  chartered  —  Columbia  Insurance  Company  organ- 
ized—Reformed Publishing  Company  organized. 

1883- Serious  flood— Montgomery  County  Bar  Association  organized— Elec- 
tric light  introduced  — Dayton  Manufacturing  Company  incorpo- 
rated—Historical Publishing  Company  incorporated. 

1884— New  Court-house  completed  — National  Cash  Register  Company  organ- 
ized—Montgomery County  Soldiers'  IMonument  dedicated  — Ohio 
Rake  Company  incorporated. 

1886— A  destructive  flood,  damaging  West  Daj'ton. 

1887  — White  Line  Street-Railway,  the  first  operated  by  electricity,  constructed 
—  Union  Safe  Deposit  and  Trust  Company  incorporated  —  Pasteur- 
Chamberland  Filter  Company  incorporated  —  Board  of  Trade  organ- 
ized. 

1888— New  Public  Librarj'  building  occupied— Fourth  National  Bank  incor- 
porated—Davis Sewing-Machine  Company  removed  to  Dayton  — 
First  street-paving  laid,  on  East  Fifth  Street. 

1889 — Woman's  Literary  Club  organized  — Natural  gas  introduced  —  Teutonia 
National  Bank  chartered. 

1890— Protestant  Deaconess  Society  organized  — First  sanitary  sewers  laid— 
Lorenz  &  Company,  music  publishers,  began  business  —  Population, 
61,220. 

1891  —  Dayton  Computing  Scale  Company  incorporated  —  Dayton  Under- 
writers' Association  incorporated  — Deaconess  Society  opened  a 
temporary  hospital  —  Dayton  Pj-ess  established. 

1892— Columbian  Centennial  celebrated— Sey bold  Machine  Company  incor- 
porated. 

1893— New  High  School  building  completed— Thresher  Electrical  Company 
began  business. 

1894 — Deacon  ess  Hospital  completed  and  dedicated  —  Police  matron  appointed. 

1895— All  street  railways  except  one  operated  by  electricity —  Dayton  Traction 
Company  began  to  operate  its  line  — Present  Day  Club  organized  — 
Young  Women's  League  organized. 

1896 — Manual-training  school  opened  — Population,  about  80,000— Sixty-four 
passenger  trains  daily— April  1,  Centennial  celebration  begun. 


238  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Black,  Alexander.    Story  of  Ohio.    Boston.    1888. 

Brown,  AlSHLEY.  History  of  Dayton  in  the  History  of  Montgomery  County, 
Ohio.    Chicago.    1882. 

CUKWEN,  MASKELii  E.    A  Sketch  of  the  History  of  Dayton.    1850. 

Howe,  Henky.    Historical  Collections  of  Ohio.    1847. 

The  Same.    Revised  and  enlarged.    2  vols.    Columbus.    1889. 

King,  Rufus.    History  of  Ohio.    Boston.    1888. 

Newspapers  from  1808  to  1896,  on  file  in  Dayton  Public  Library. 

Records  of  the  Dayton  Academy.    1808-1047.    MS. 

Steele,  Robert  W.    Historical  Sketch  of  the  Dayton  Schools. 
Historical  Sketch  of  the  Woodland  Cemetery  Association.    1875. 

Steele,  Robert  W.,  and  Steele,  Mary'  Da  vies.  Early  Dayton.  300  pp^ 
12mo.  Dayton,  Ohio :  VV.  J.  Shuey,  United  Brethren  Publishing 
House.    1896. 

Steele,  Robert  W.,  Wooldridge,  J.,  and  Others.  History  of  Dayton,  Ohio. 
728  pp.,  quarto.  Dayton,  Ohio :  W.  J.  Shuey,  United  Brethren 
Publishing  House.    1889. 

Van  Cleve,  Benjamin.    Memoranda.    MS. 

Van  Cleve,  John  W.  Brief  History  of  the  Settlement  of  the  Town  of  Dayton, 
Published  in  Journal  of  Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of 
Ohio,  page  73. 

Note.—  ¥oT  a  more  complete  bibliography  see  Catalogue  of  the  Dayton  Public 
Library. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abolitionists  mobbed,  94,  95. 
Academy,  Dayton,  92, 145. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  183. 
Anderson,  Governor  Charles,  186,  205. 
Antislavery  society,  94. 
Asbury,  Bishop,  127. 
Associated  Bachelors' Society,  132, 133. 
Asylum,  227. 

Bacon,  Henry,  93. 
Bacon,  Richard,  108. 
Baker,  Aaron,  93,  94,  127,  128, 133. 
Banks,  90,  126,  185,  199,  228,  234  et  seq. 
Baptist  Church,  First,  149,  191. 
Bar  of  Dayton,  186,  187. 
Barney,  E.  E.,  90,  92,  165,  184,  199. 
Bartholomew,  Jean,  184. 
Battles  on  site  of  Dayton,  19,  20. 
Benevolent  and  charitable   institu- 
tions, 130,  194,  195,  226,  227. 
Benham,  Captain,  40,  41,  45. 
Bibliography,  238. 
Bickham,  Major  W.  D.,  197. 
Bienville,  Major  Celoron  de,  17. 
"Black  Ben,"  94. 
Blockhouse,  34. 
Board  of  City  Affairs,  221. 
Board  of  Education,  222. 
Board  ot  Elections,  222. 
Board  of  Equalization,  222. 
Board  of  Health,  159,  223. 
Board  of  Trade,  228. 
Bomberger,  Mrs.  Sarah,  136, 137. 
Bonded  debt,  224,  225. 
Bridges,  88,  89,  136,  161. 
Brown,  Ashley,  67,  238. 
Brown,  Henry,  32,  96. 
Brown,  Henry  L.,  32,  160. 
Brown,  Thomas,  109,  189. 
Bruen,  Luther,  93,  94,  207. 
Builders'  Exchange,  229. 

16  241 


Building  and  loan  associations,  197, 

228. 
Burnet,  Isaac  G.,  110,  128. 
Business  men  in  "the  thirties,"  165. 

Cabins,  24,  33,  51,  52. 

Cabintown,  151. 

Calvary  Cemetery,  186. 

Campbell,  James,  184. 

Canal,  Miami  and  Erie,  150  ei  seq.,  221. 

Canal-boat,  first,  built  in  Dayton,  151. 
first  to  arrive,  152. 

Carpet  manufacture,  173. 

Cass,  General,  119. 

Catholic  church,  Franklin  Street,  191. 

Catholic  family,  first,  191. 

Cemeteries,  61,  71,  72,  183,  186. 

Centennial  of  Dayton,  29. 

Cetitinel,  Ohio,  109,  110,  126. 

Central  High  School,  184. 

Charitable  and  benevolent  institu- 
tions, 130,  194,  195,  226,  227. 

Chase,  Governor,  193. 

Children's  Home,  194,  227. 

Chillicothe,  78. 

Cholera,  159,  192. 

Chronological  record,  233  et  seq. 

Churches,  191,  225. 

Cincinnati,  21,  22,  23,  25,  51, 138, 139, 216, 
221. 

CSty  government  and  institutions, 
221  et  seq. 

City  Infirmary,  224. 

Civil  War,  Dayton  in  the,  202  et  seq. 

Clark,  General  George  Rogers,  19. 

Clay,  Henry,  178,  183. 

Clegg,  Thomas,  108,  234. 

Cleveland,  139. 

Clinton,  Governor  DeWitt,  150. 

Clubs,  196,  227. 

Colonization  society  formed,  94. 


242 


INDEX 


Colored  people  left  for  Haytl,  94. 
Columbian  Centennial,  196. 
Columbus,  139,  221. 
Comet  of  1811,  110. 
Comly,  R.  N.,  75, 148. 
Comly,  W.  F.,  75, 148. 
Commercial  and  industrial,  228rf  seg. 
Commercial  colleges,  226. 
Compton's  Tavern,  150. 
Conestoga  wagons,  103. 
Congregational  Church,  First,  236. 
Conover,  Obadiah  B.,  93,  94, 114, 133. 
Cooper,  D.  C,  20,  21,  29,  30,  65,  79,  87, 
92,  111,  133. 

becomes  titular  proprietor  of  Day- 
ton, 30,  63. 

his  Improvements  and  liberality, 
30,  31. 
Cooper,  David  Zeigler,  163, 164. 
Cooper  Female  Seminary,  184. 
Cooper  Hydraulic,  172. 
Cooper  Park,  26,  30, 119, 164, 190, 196. 
Corwin,  Thomas,  179. 
Council,  Town,  109, 163, 164. 

City,  222. 
Court-house,  89, 135, 185. 
Cox,  Miss,  184. 

Crane,  Judge  Joseph  H.,  70,  78,  80,  81, 
106,  108,  109,  121,  133,  179,  186,  187. 

quoted,  90. 
Curwen,  quoted,  27, 55,  59, 61, 67, 104, 176, 
193, 194. 

History  of  Dayton,  67,  68,  238. 
Cut  money,  60. 

Daest,  Abram,  100, 141, 165. 
Davies,  Edward  W.,  OS,  108, 162. 
Davis,  Dr.  John,  190. 
Dayton,  site  purchased,  20. 

laid  out,  21. 

named,  21. 

settled,  21-25. 

in  1800-1805,  25. 

made  county-seat,  55,  64. 

incorporated,  as  a  town,  83. 
as  a  city,  235. 

location  and  area,  221. 

population,  221. 

government  and  institutions,  221 
et  seq. 

from  1840  to  1896,  183  et  seq. 

in  the  Civil  War,  202  et  seq. 
Dayton,  General  Jonathan,  20, 29,  216. 


Dayton  Academy,  92, 145. 
Dayton  bank,  first,  90,  126. 
Dayton  Female  Charitable  and  Bible 

Society,  130. 
Dayton  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 

144. 
Dayton  Library  Association,  190. 
Dayton  Lyceum,  160. 
Dayton  Social  Library  Society,  84. 
Dayton  Temperance  Society,  153. 
Dayton  View  Hydraulic,  157. 
De  Bienville,  17. 
Deaconess  Hospital,  195, 196,  226. 
Debt,  bonded,  224,  225. 
Detroit,  78. 

Dickson,  Miss  Mary  G.,  184. 
Disbrow,  Henry,  99, 105, 106. 
Doddridge,  quoted,  33. 
Dover,  Mrs.  Thomas,  35. 
Doyle,  Major,  46. 
Drake,  Dr.,  quoted,  25. 
Dunlevy,  Hon.  Francis,  55. 

Eaker,  William,  101, 102, 109. 

Earthquakes,  110. 

Edgar,  Robert,  31,  100. 

Election,  first  town,  64. 

Electric  light,  193. 

Elliott,  Dr.  John,  25,  84,  97. 

Emerson  Club,  196,  227. 

Empire  oflSice  mobbed,  207. 

Engle,  George,  108. 

Episcopal  Church,  St.  Thomas,  140. 

Christ,  140. 
Este,  Dr.  Charles,  107. 
Evangelical  Association,  Emmanuel 
Church,  235. 

Fales,  Stephen,  108. 

Ferries,  88,  89,  128. 

Findlay,  Rev.  James  B.,  92. 

Fire  Department,  140-144, 194,  223. 

Fire-hunting,  59. 

Fire-insurance  companies,  197,  228. 

Fires,  133,  140,  141,  142, 143. 

First  book  published,  235. 

First  brick  building,  84. 

First  brick  residence  erected,  96. 

First  bridge.  136. 

First  business  house  erected,  32. 

First  canal-boat  built,  151. 

First  child  born,  53. 

First  county  court,  55,  64. 


INDEX 


243 


First  county  fair,  173. 

First  court-house,  54,  55. 

First  court-house  built,  89. 

First  drug-store,  109. 

First  flatboat  to  New  Orleans,  33. 

First  flood,  86. 

First  graveyard,  61. 

First  industries  established,  61,  233. 

First  jail,  51. 

First  jail  built,  6G. 

First  justice  of  the  'peace,  61. 

First  library  in  Ohio,  84. 

First  lime  made,  53. 

First  male  child  born,  67. 

First  market-house,  131. 

First  mayor,  92. 

First  mechanics'  society,  125. 

First  meeting-house,  61. 

First  mill  built,  61. 

First  minister,  26. 

First  musical  society,  71. 

First  newspaper,  89. 

First  passenger  station,  236. 

First  postmaster,  34,  78. 

First  postofllce,  78. 

First  railroad   company   organized, 

168. 
First  school,  34. 
First  school-teacher,  34. 
First  sermon,  26,  233. 
First  settlers,  21. 
First  store  opened,  32. 
First  street-railway,  194. 
First  telegraph  message,  193. 
First  temperance  society,  153. 
First  theater,  133, 134. 
First  town  election,  64. 
First  wedding,  57. 
Fish,  138. 
Flatboating,  104. 

Flint,  Rev.  Timothy,  quoted,  132. 
Floods,  86,  158,  192. 
Folkerth,  John,  84,  92, 109. 
Forrer,  Samuel,  99, 170, 171. 
quoted,  99,  127,  137,  177. 
Fort  Greenville,  48.  • 

Fort  Hamilton,  25,  30,  32,  40,  42,  54, 

216. 
Fort  Jefferson,  40,  42. 
Fort  Washington,  40,  42,  214,  215. 
Fort  Wayne,  78. 
Fourth  of  July  celebrations,  106-109, 

146. 


Franklin,  78, 139. 

Friday  Afternoon  Club,  196,  227. 

Game,  138. 

Gano,  General,  119. 

Gano,  John  Stites,  20. 

Gas,  193. 

Gas,  natural,  197. 

Gebhart,  Frederick,  199,  200. 

Gebhart,  George,  199. 

Gebhart,  Herman,  199. 

George,  William,  78,  79. 

Gist,  17,  18. 

quoted,  18. 
Glass,  Francis,  146. 
Glassmire,  Abraham,  21,  22,  33. 
Goforth,  William,  20. 
Greene,  (^harles  Russell,  87,  88,   109, 

112. 
Greenville,  Fort,  48. 
Greenville,  treaty  of,  20. 
Greer,  Rear- Admiral,  209. 
Gridiron,  146. 

Grimes,  Alexander,  98,  149. 
Grimes,  Colonel  John,  98. 
Grimes's  Tavern,  98,  107. 
Gunckel,  Hon.  Lewis  B.,  187. 

"H.H."  Club,  196,  227. 
Haines,  Dr.  Job,  93,  130, 141, 190. 
Hamer,  William,  21,  128. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  214,  215. 
Hamilton,  Fort,  25,  30,  32,  40,  42,  54, 

216. 
Hamilton  County,  61. 
Hanna,  James,  92. 
Harmar,  Fort,  214. 
Harmar,  General,  214,  215. 
Harmonia  Society,  196,  227. 
Harries,  Johji,  139. 
Harrison,  General  W.  H.,  122,  174, 175, 

176,  177,  179. 
Harrison  campaign,  174  et  seq. 
Harshman,  Jonathan,  93,  95,  96,  168, 

175. 
Haynes,  Judge  Daniel  A.,  165, 179,  186, 

189. 
Hebrew  cemetery,  186. 
Hebrew  congregation,  first,  191. 
Herald,  198. 
High  School,  184,  222. 
Hildreth,  cited,  24. 
Historical  and  statistical  tables,  221. 


244 


INDEX 


History  of  Dayton,  material  for,  C7, 

68,238. 
Hogs  introduced,  33. 
Holt,  Colonel  Jerome,  64, 109, 123, 124. 
Holt,  Judge  George  B.,  147,  149,  165. 
Hospitality,  early,  178. 
Hospitals,  115,  195,  196,  226,  227. 
Houk,  Adam,  108. 
Houston,  George  S.,  80,  126,  129,  133. 
Howells,  W.  C,  quoted,  51,  52,  59. 
Howells,  W.  D.,  quoted,  59,  00. 
Howe's    "Historical    Collections    of 

Ohio,"  quoted,  170,  171. 
Huffman,  William,  110,  111,  133,  134. 
Huflinan,  William  P.,  111. 
Hull,  General,  120,  121. 
Hunting,  60,  138. 
Hunting-grounds,  Indian,  18,  19. 
Hydraulics,  157,  172. 

Improving  the  town,  163. 
Incorporated  companies,  228. 
Incorporation,  as  a  town,  83. 

as  a  city,  235. 
Indian  villages,  17. 
Indians,  early  experiences  with,  27, 

28,  31,  38,  39,  56. 
Indians,  wars  with,  19, 20. 
Industrial  and  commercial,  22&etseq. 
Infirmary,  224. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  185. 
Jail,  54,  126,  127,  185. 
Jeflerson,  Fort,  40,  42. 
Jennison,  William,  167. 
Jewett,  Dr.  Adams,  190. 
Jewett,  Dr.  Hibberd,  95, 190. 
Journal,  197. 

office  burned,  206. 
Jubilee  of  the  United  States,  108,  109. 

Keel-boats,  105. 

Kentucky,  incursions  from,  18. 

King,  Colonel  Edward  A.,  193,  203,  206. 

King,  Rufus,  quoted,  125. 

King,  William,  76,  77,  78. 

Knox,  General,  43,  214. 

Kobler,  Rev.  John,  26, 127,  233. 

La  Roche  River,  17. 
Lafayette,  death  of,  162. 
Lancasterian  instruction,  145. 
Latitude  and  longitude,  221. 


Levees,  72,  86. 

Libraries,  74,  84,  85,  160,  190,  222. 

Lime  first  made  in  Dayton,  53. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  187,  202,  208. 

Literary  societies,  196,  227. 

Location  and  area,  221. 

Log  cabin  described,  52. 

Log  Cabin,  75,  174. 

Logan,  Colonel,  19. 

Lowe,  Colonel  John  G.,  109,  207. 

Lowe,  Mrs.  John  G.,  113,  114. 

Lowe,  Peter  P.,  108,  147. 

Lowry,  David,  33,  102. 

Ludlow,  Colonel  Israel,  20,  21,  29,  49, 

63,  213  et  seq. 
Lutheran    Church,    First    English, 

191. 

Mad  River,  18,  19,  20,  22,  80,  48,  49,  54, 
62,  172,  173,  221. 

Maennerchor  Society,  196,  227. 

Mails,  78,  79,  80. 

Manual-labor  school,  155. 

Manual-training  school,  181,  222. 

Manufacturing  interests,  196,  197,  229 
et  seq. 

Marietta,  24. 

Market-house,  131, 153, 154,  224. 

Markets,  171,  172,  224. 

Marriages,  early,  62. 

Mayor,  221. 
first,  92. 

McClure,  William,  78,  79,  99. 

McCullum's  Tavern,  65,  84, 119, 125. 

McDaniel,  Charles  A.,  209. 

McDaniel,  James,  165. 

McDermont,  Dr.  Clarke,  190. 

McGuffey,  Rev.  W.  H.,  165. 

McMahon,  Hon.  John  A.,  186. 

McMillan,  Gideon,  146. 

McMullin,  Captain  John,  146. 

Mechanics'  Institute,  160. 

Mechanics'  society,  first,  125. 

Medical  profession,  190. 

Medical  societies,  129,  130. 

Meigs,  Governor,  118  et  seq. 

Mercantile  interests,  197,  228  etscq. 

Merchants,  early,  165. 

Methodist  church,  first,  127, 128. 

Mexican  War,  192, 193. 

Miami  City,  185.  '' 

Miami  Republican  and  Dayton  Adver- 
tiser, 147. 


INDEX 


245 


Miami  River,  Big,  or  Great,  17, 18,  22, 
62,  104,  105,  221. 
navigable,  104. 

Miami  River,  Little,  18,  20,  215. 

Miami  Valley,  its  beauty  and  fertil- 
ity, 18. 

Miami  villages,  17. 

Military  companies,  227. 

Military  history,  19,  111,  112, 116  et  seqT, 
192,  193,  202  et  seq. 

Mitchell,  James  H.,  92. 

Mobs,  94,  95,  206,  207. 

Money,  60. 

Montgomery    County    Agricultural 
Fair,  first,  173. 

Montgomery    County    Agricultural 
Society  organized,  173. 

Montgomery  County   Bible    Society 
organized,  144. 

Montgomery  separated  from  Hamil- 
ton County,  64. 

Moral  Society,  132, 133. 

Morgan's  raid,  206. 

Morrison,  Thomas,  166,  167, 174. 

Morns  muUicaulis,  173. 

Mozart  Musical  and  Literary  Society, 
196,  227. 

Mt.  Vernon,  139. 

Munger,  General,  118, 119, 121. 

Munger,  Warren,  139. 

Musical  societies,  196,  227. 

National  Guard,  227. 

National  Hotel,  153. 

National  Military  Home,  209,  210,  227. 

Natural  advantages  of    the    Miami 

region,  18. 
Natural  gas,  197. 

Navigation  of  Miami  River,  104, 105. 
New  Orleans  a  market  for  Dayton 

produce,  104,  105. 
Newcom,  Colonel    George,  21,  53-57, 

126, 133. 
Newcom,  Mrs.  George,  56. 
Newcom's  Tavern,  27, 30, 32, 53, 54, 55, 64. 
News,  197. 
Newspapers,  89,  99, 109, 110, 128, 129, 146, 

147,  148,  197,  198,  225. 
Night  schools,  222. 
Normal  school,  184,  222. 

Odlin,  Peter,  109, 168. 

Ohio  admitted  into  the  Union,  64. 


Ohio  Centinel,  109,  110,  126. 

Ohio  Land  Company,  17,  20,  87,  8K. 

Oliio  JVatinnal  Journal,  147. 

OIUo  RcpubUcan,  128. 

Ohio  ]\'atchvian,  128, 129. 

Oregon,  185. 

Original  settlers,  21,  23,  24. 

Orphans'  Home,  194. 

Osborn,  Cyrus,  78. 

Parrott,  Colonel,  E.  A.,  204. 

Passenger  trains,  229,  237. 

Patterson,  Colonel  Robert,  19,  82,  83, 
108,  216. 

Patterson,  Jefferson,  108. 

Patton,  Matthew,  99,  13;3,  141. 

Peirce,  Joseph,  80,  106,  111,  133. 

Periodicals,  198,  225. 

Perrine,  James,  148. 

Perrine,  Johnson  V.,  109. 

Petition  to  Congress,  62,  63. 

Philharmonic  Society,  196,  227. 

Phillips,  Horatio  G.,  108,  HI,  112,  137. 

Phillips,  J.  D.,  112,  113,  178,  179. 

Phillips,  Mrs.  Horatio  G.,  113. 

Physicians,  190. 

Pioneer  life,  33,  51  et  seq. 

Piqua,  17. 

Plats  of  the  town,  64,  75. 

Pleyel  Society  organized,  71. 

Police  Department,  161,  185,  223. 

Police  matron  appointed,  237, 

Political  clubs,  227. 

Political  excitement,  158,  159, 161, 192, 
202. 

Population,  221. 

Postage,  early,  79,  80. 

Postofflce,  78. 

Postoffice  statistics,  229. 

Presbyterian  Church,  First,  61,  65, 
107,  108,  174,  191. 

Presbyterian  meeting-house,  61,  65. 

Present  Day  Club,  196,  227. 

Press,  sec  Newspapers. 

Press,  198. 

Probate  Court  opened,  236. 

Processions  of  school-children,  146, 
196. 

Protestant  Deaconess  Home  and  Hos- 
pital, 195,  196,  226. 

Protestant  Deaconess  Society,  195. 

Public  Library,  190,  222. 

Public  schools,  157,  183, 184,  223 


246 


INDEX 


Kailkoads,  steam,  193, 194, 221, 236, 237. 

street,  194,  228,  236,  237. 
Rebellion,  War  of  the,  202  et  seq. 
Reeve,  Dr.  J.  C,  190. 
Reformed  Church,  First,  191. 
Regans,  Jephtha,  147. 
Reid,  Colonel,  98,  99. 
Reid,  Major  David,  109, 118. 
Reid's  Inn,  98,  99,  107,  109,  122,  140. 
Hcpcrlvry,  99. 
Rike,  D.  L.,  200,  236. 
Roads,  102,  103,  221. 
Robert,  Prof.  J.  A.,  196. 

Sabbath-School  Association,  136. 
Sandusky,  139,  194. 
Schenck,  Admiral  James  F.,  209. 
Schenck,  General  Robert  C,  108,  157, 

160,  165,  168,  179,  187, 188,  205. 
Schenck,  General  W.  C,  34,  49. 
School  convention,  165. 
School  enumeration,  222, 
School-houses,  public,  169,  222. 
Schools,  public,  157,  183,  181,  222. 

church,  184,  226. 

private,  34,  154, 155,  181,  226. 

manual-labor,  155. 
Settlement,  the,  21-25. 
Settlers,  original,  21,  23,  24. 
Sewers,  197,  228. 
Sheep  first  brought  to  Dayton,  33, 

34. 
Sherman,  Senator  John,  quoted,  189. 
Shows,  140. 

Shucy,  Rev.  "W.  J.,  238. 
Silk  manufactory,  160. 
Silkworms,  culture  of,  173. 
Site  of  Dayton  purchased,  20. 
Slave  captured  in  Dayton,  93,  94. 
Smith,  George  W.,  101,  102,  107. 
Smith,  William  M.,  92,  106. 
Social,  cycling,  and  other  clubs,  227. 
Society  of  Associated  Bachelors,  132, 

133. 
Soldiers'  Home,  209,  210,  227. 
Soldiers'  Monument,  210,  211. 
Soule,  Charles,  161,  179. 
Southern  Ohio  Asylum,  227. 
Spining,  Judge  Isaac,  76,  77, 107,  108. 
Springfield,  19,  168,  236. 
Squier,  David,  66,  109. 
St.  Clair,  Governor  Arthur,  20,  29,  40, 
215,  216. 


St.  Elizabeth  Hospital,  195,  226,  227. 

St.  Henry's  Cemetery,  186. 

St.  Joseph's  Institute,  226. 

St.  Mary's  Institute,  226. 

Stage-coaches,  138, 139. 

Stebbins,  Colonel,  108. 

Steele,  Dr.  John,  95,  107,  115,  116,  129, 

190. 
Steele,  Judge  James,  79,  89,  90,  91,  93, 

100, 107,  108,  121,  122,  126,  141. 
Steele,  Miss  Mary  D.,  91. 

History  of  Dayton,  238. 
Steele,  Robert  W.,  67,  68,  91,  184,  186. 
quoted,  69. 

biographical  sketch,  91,  200. 
History  of  Dayton,  238. 
Steele  High  School,  184,  222. 
Steele's  Dam,  157. 
Stillwater,  221. 
Stites,  Major  Benjamin,  20. 
Stoddard,  Henry,  85,  94, 139. 
Stores,  early,  104. 
Stout,  David,  135,  228. 
Strain,  Robert,  131. 
Street  improvem.ents,  197,  228. 
Street-paving,  197,  228. 
Street-railways,  194,  228,  236,  237. 
Strong,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hiram, 

205,  207. 
Sun  Inn,  137. 

Swaynie's  Tavern,  153, 173. 
Symmes,  John  Cleves,  20,  63,  216. 

Tax  Commission,  224. 
Taxes,  early,  62,  64,  233,  234. 

1894-96,  224. 
Tecumseh,  19, 109. 
Temperance  society,  153. 
Tennery,  George  T.,  92. 
Theater,  first,  133,  134. 
Thespian  Society,  85. 
Thomas,  Rev.  Thomas  E.,  76. 
Thompson,  Mrs.  Samuel,  23,  27. 
Thompson,  Samuel,  21,  23,  27. 
Thresher,  Ebenezer,  198,  199. 
Thruston,  Robert  A..  108,  162. 
Times,  197. 

Trains,  passenger,  229,  237. 
Transportation,   early,   102,   103,    104, 

105. 
Turnpikes,  168, 169,  170. 
Turpin,  James,  75,  76, 184. 
Twightwee  villages,  17. 


IKDEX 


247 


Union  Bibx.icai.  Seminary,  226. 
Union  Passenger  Station,  236. 
United  Brethren  Church,  First,  191. 
Urbana,  78,  79. 

Vallandigham,  Clement   L.,    188, 

189,  206. 
Van  Cleve,  Benjamin,  21,  25,  34  et  seq., 

55,  57,  58,  62,  67,  68,  78,  79,  83,  84, 

92,  106,  107,  109,  126. 
quoted,  34,  49,  63,  69. 

"  Memoranda,"  35,  36. 
biography  of,  35  et  scq. 
historian  of  Dayton  from  1795  to 
1821,  36. 
Van  Cleve,  Captain  William,  21,  22, 

119,  120. 
Van  Cleve,  John,  27,  36,  37,  38,  39. 
Van  Cleve,  John  W.,  58,  67  et  seq.,  &5, 

93,  108,  141,  142,  148,  174,  186. 
quoted,  25,  85,  86,  87. 
biography  of,  67  et  seq, 
historian  of  Dayton,  67. 

Van  Cleve,  Mary,  27,  28. 

Venice,  plans  for   a   town   named, 

20. 
Volks-Zeitung,  198. 

War  of  1812,  HI,  112,  116  et  seq. 
Washington,  Fort,  40,  42,  214,  215. 
Water-works,  194,  223. 
Wayne,  General  Anthony,  20,  44. 
Welsh,  Dr.  James,  92,  97, 106. 


West  Dayton,  185. 

Westfall,  Cornelius,  8,3. 

Wheelock,  Major  Daniel  W.,  16-1. 

Whig  Glee  Club,  76. 

Whiting,  Swansey,  83. 

Whitten,  Mary,  57,  58. 

Widows'  Home,  195,  227. 

Wight,  Collins,  93,  114. 

Wilbur,  Rev.  Backus,  136. 

Wilkinson,  General  James,  20,  29, 216. 

Williams,  John  H.,  76,  78. 

Williams,  Milo  G.,  93,  165, 184. 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Jane  Newcom,  53,  56. 

Winters,  J.  H.,  186. 

Winters,  Mrs.  J.  H.,  196. 

Winters,  Valentine,  199. 

Wolf  Creek,  221. 

Woman's  Christian  Association,  195, 

226. 
Woman's  Literary  Club,  196,  227. 
Women's  literary  clubs,  196,  227. 
Wood,  General  T.  J.,  211. 
Woodland  Cemetery,  71,  72,  186. 
Work-house,  223. 

Xenia,  19. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 195,  226. 
Young  Men's  Institute,  226. 
Young  Women's  League,  195,  226. 

Zanesville,  78. 


Public  Buildings. 

A.  Court  House. 

B.  First  Presbyterian  Church. 

C.  Second  Presbjrtci ' 

D.  Methodist  " 
£.  CampbeUite  BaptiBt       <* 

F.  Union  " 

G.  Episcopal  ** 
H.  German  Reformed  ** 
I.  Catholic                            " 
J.  Acaiiem;. 
K.  Free  Scbool>Uouse. 
L.                   1)0 

Manufacturing  Establishments. 

a.  Flouring  Mill. 

b.  Fulling  Mill. 

c.  Machine  Shop. 
d  Turning  Lathes. 

e.  Miami  Cotton  Mill. 

f.  Flouring  Mill. 

g.  Clegg'a  Cotton  Mill 
h.  Saw  Mill. 
i.  Clegc's  Cotton  Mill, 
j.  Gun-barrel  Factory. 
k.  Cooper  Cotton  Mill. 
1.  Carpet  Factory. 
m.  Corn  Mill, 
n.  Clock  Factory. 
0.  gav  Mill. 


FACSIMILE  OF  A  MAP  OF  DAYTON,  COMPILED  FROM  THl 

BY 


\RrOTJS  PLATS  ON  RECORD,  CORRECTED  AND  COMBINED  BY  ACTUAL  SURVEY, 
IN    W.  VAN  CLEVE,  1839. 


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